Guwahati, Jan 8: The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has accused the state government of attempting to cover up the Umrongso coal mine tragedy by targeting minor culprits instead of addressing the larger coal smuggling syndicate allegedly operating under political and administrative patronage.
Police have arrested Punish Nunisa, the mine’s alleged owner and cousin of Konika Hojaia, wife of Dima Hasao Autonomous Council (DHAC) Chief Executive Member (CEM) Debolal Gorlosa on Tuesday for illegally running the mining site.
An FIR under Umrangso PS case no. 02/2025 has been filed under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
In a strongly worded statement, AJP President Lurinjyoti Gogoi and General Secretary Jagadish Bhuyan alleged that the government is using diversionary tactics to shield those responsible for illegal coal mining in Dima Hasao district.
“The arrest of a proxy culprit is a blatant attempt to mislead the public and conceal the nexus of corruption surrounding the coal smuggling racket. This racket has flourished in Assam for years with the active collusion of politicians and bureaucrats,” the AJP leaders stated.
They highlighted the involvement of major cement companies, including Dalmia Cement, Vinay Cement, Topcem Cement, and Star Cement, in illegal mining operations and demanded that these entities be brought under scrutiny.
The AJP also pointed out that rat-hole coal mining, banned by the Supreme Court of India and the National Green Tribunal (NGT), continues unchecked in districts like Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao. They alleged that coal is being transported illegally on Assam’s highways, exposing a deep-seated disregard for the law.
The AJP has called for a high-level judicial probe to uncover the full extent of the scandal and has demanded the immediate arrest of the District Commissioner (DC), Superintendent of Police (SP), Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and Managing Director of Assam Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (AMDCL), Natarajan Anand, IFS in this connection.
Gogoi and Bhuyan alleged that Anand had illegally issued transport challans for coal from Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao districts over the past three years, facilitating the sale of millions of tons of coal to leading companies.
Gogoi and Bhuyan emphasized that photographic and video evidence from Umrongso confirms active rat-hole mining in open defiance of Supreme Court and NGT directives. They accused the authorities of arresting a relative of Debolal Garlosa, Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Dima Hasao Autonomous Council, as a scapegoat to deflect attention from the systemic collusion.
“This level of large-scale coal mining and defiance of Supreme Court orders could not occur without the knowledge and tacit approval of the government,” the AJP leaders said.
The AJP leaders blamed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for failing to take decisive action. “If the Chief Minister is unaware of these illegal activities, why has he not ordered the arrest of district officials and AMDCL’s director? This inaction only reinforces the belief that the government is complicit in the illegal coal mining syndicate,” they added.
They reiterated that unless immediate steps are taken to dismantle the coal smuggling network and hold those responsible accountable, the government’s integrity and commitment to enforcing the law would remain in question.
