E-Paper
FIR against four stone crushers in Kangra for using forged mining forms
The stone crushers were transporting illegally mined minerals to Punjab.
Himachal Pradesh Police on Friday registered a case against four stone crushers in the border areas of Kangra district’s Nurpur and Indora sub-division for transporting illegally mined minerals to Punjab by using forged mining forms (M-Forms).
The irregularities were first detected by Pathankot mining officer, who informed his Nurpur counterpart and then a complaint was lodged with superintendent of police (SP) Vimukt Ranjan.
The SP said the Nurpur mining officer had submitted details of hundreds of fake and forged M-forms used by the lease holders to transport mined material to Punjab.
A case under Section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of Indian Penal Code has been registered against four stone crusher units, including New Shiva Stone Crusher, Kandwal, Bhandral Stone Crusher and Mankotia Stone Crusher, Damtal and Jai Hari Stone Crusher Indora.
A BJP leader from Nurpur, who has a mining lease in his name, is also under the scanner.
It is learnt that the mining lease holders were using forged M-forms for transporting minerals to Punjab as the Himachal police has adopted a tough approach towards illegal mining. By using forged documents, the mining mafia had caused loss worth crores to the state exchequer in terms of royalty and GST.
The M-Form
The mining form or the M-Form is a document mandatory to transport mined material from one place to other. The form is issued online on the industry department website. The government royalty and tax is calculated on the bases of this form. Transporting mined material without M-Form is a criminal offence in Himachal.
