Jaipur, Jul 19 (PTI) A gang, allegedly involved in the adulteration of coal imported from the US, was busted by the Rajasthan Police, leading to the arrest of an individual, a senior official said on Saturday.

The gang was adulterating high-quality coal (petcoke) imported from the US, cheating cement and steel factories out of crores of rupees through this illegal operation, Additional Director General of Police (Crime) Dinesh MN said.

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A team from the Crime Investigation Branch had been gathering intelligence about the theft of petcoke for some time. They were told by informants about several Gujarat-based 'coal mafias' who had rented a closed factory at Bhujela along the Pindwara-Aburoad National Highway 27, the officer added.

The criminals would lure truck drivers with money, take five to ten tonnes of pure foreign coal from the trucks, and allegedly mix it with fake coal powder 'dust' weighing the same amount.

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The gang was earning illegally in lakhs by allegedly selling the stolen coal to small industrial units.

On Friday, the police raided the suspected factory premises and seized two trucks, a loader and a dozer machine from the spot.

During the raid, a man identified as Irfan (32) was arrested. During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to the gang buying coal from truck drivers for five to seven thousand rupees per ton and then adulterating it.

In this manner, the gang was stealing approximately 15 to 20 tonnes of coal every day, leading to daily earnings of around 1 to 1.5 lakh rupees, the police said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)