India's CISF seizes 428 metric tons of illegal coal in Jharkhand, West Bengal

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) intensified actions under the government’s “Zero Coal Leakage” initiative and seized more than 428 metric tons of illegally mined, stored and transported coal in the coal‑rich areas of Jharkhand and West Bengal. The operation, conducted with Coal India subsidiaries, local police and district officials, resulted in four FIRs, the confiscation of vehicles and mining equipment, and the use of human intelligence, drone surveillance, surprise inspections and transport‑route monitoring.

The crackdown follows a high‑level meeting on 5 July chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah and Coal Minister G. Kishan Reddy, where officials reviewed the worsening illegal mining situation around Dhanbad and granted CISF powers under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 to conduct searches, seizures and prosecutions.