TURA: North Garo Hills police seized four coal-laden trucks near Adokgre village on Wednesday, bringing to fore yet again the continous illegal transportation of coal in the state.
Acting on inputs, police set up a check point in the area and spotted close to half a dozen vehicles coming from Shallang in West Khasi Hills towards Adokgre in North Garo Hills.
The trucks laden with coal were being escorted by some men in a Bolero camper vehicle bearing Assam registration. Three trucks, ML07-B-1226, AS-25-BC-0921 and AS-01-J 0964, along with the Bolero camper (AS18C 8662) were seized by police while another truck in the convoy managed to break free and head towards Assam.
Four persons, Sanjay Sangma from Rongjeng, R Boro from Boko, Keshwell Sangma and Arful Rabha from Shallang, mainly truck drivers, have been detained.
Taking advantage of the porous border roads between Assam and Meghalaya, the coal smugglers were bringing in the consignment from the mines in West and South West Khasi Hills and using the roads which connect to Assam through Adokgre in North Garo Hills and Mallangkona and Hahim in West Khasi Hills.
