Investigations reveal that the actual operators of the illegal coke plants were mostly from Assam and they were running the Benami business illegally in Meghalaya
SHILLONG, Jan 30: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Shillong Sub Zonal Office conducted search operations on January 28 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in several locations in Guwahati and Kolkata connected to illegal coke plants in Meghalaya which were shut down vide an order of the High Court of Meghalaya.
The Court had issued an order on December 16, 2022, shutting down all illegal coke plants operating in Meghalaya.
An FIR was lodged by the Sub Divisional Officer of Mawshynrut Civil Sub-Division after a joint operation with the police led to shutting down of 57 illegal coke plants in the Shallang area of West Khasi Hills, following the Court order.
The ED initiated an investigation into money laundering on the basis of the FIR registered at the Shallang police station.
The ED investigation revealed that the coke plants were demolished because they were operating illegally, some without the required permits and others in violation of environmental regulations.
“Investigations revealed that the actual operators of the illegal coke plants were mostly from Assam and they were running the business of coke plants illegally in Meghalaya. Many coke plants were allegedly being run in a Benami manner. The plants were shown to be owned by locals from Meghalaya whereas the actual owners were running the business from Assam. Investigations also revealed that these illegal cokes plants were consuming illegally-mined coal and did not have any legal means of procuring coal to operate the coke plants,” the ED stated.
During the course of the search operations, the ED recovered and seized incriminating documents related to the coke plants. Cash amounting to Rs 14.2 lakh was also seized and several high-value cross border transactions were detected.
The ED further informed that property documents and a large number of bank and mutual fund accounts were also recovered which establishes that the illegal coke plant industry in West Khasi Hills had generated substantial “proceeds of crime”, primarily through the sale of illegally-mined coal and processed coke.
Further investigation is under progress, the ED said.