Jharsuguda, June 19: In a significant crackdown on illegal extortion activities, Lakhanpur Police arrested five individuals, including former Brajrajnagar Municipality Chairman Nand Kishor Agarwal, on Thursday night. The arrests were made in connection with the unlawful collection of money from truck drivers transporting coal from the Lakhanpur Opencast Mines.
According to police officials, the accused have been identified as: Nand Kishor Agarwal (65), resident of Lamtibahal and former Chairman of Brajrajnagar Municipality, Stifen Paramanik (48), resident of Kutabaga,Amarendra Singh (50), resident of Ramgarh, Sujit Kerketta (40), resident of Jamkani, Belpahar, Sashi Dhar Chouhan (42), resident of Belpahar.
The arrests followed a formal complaint lodged by Sunny Ram (36), a truck driver from Biru village in Simdega, Jharkhand. In his complaint filed on June 18 at 11:45 AM, Ram alleged that while transporting coal in his truck (Regd. No. OR-19L-4661), he was forced to pay ₹145 by a group of men while getting his coal challan stamped at the mine.
Ram reported that after loading coal, he proceeded to get the challan issued when he was directed to a group of men to get the “seal” placed. Upon approaching them, he identified one Amarendra Singh, accompanied by two others, who demanded ₹145 per truck. When he resisted and asked for clarification, they allegedly abused and manhandled him, threatening to kill him if he refused to pay.
He was further warned that if he failed to comply, his truck would be blacklisted, claiming they were collecting the money on behalf of Kishor Agarwal, who they said was backed by influential individuals. Out of fear, the complainant paid the demanded amount, received the stamp “LSS” on his parchi (slip), and was subsequently issued a challan.
The complainant also revealed that this illegal extortion racket had been operating for a long time near the New Parking area at Jurabaga, and had recently shifted operations to the new site over the past five days.
Speaking on the matter, Brajrajnagar SDPO Chintamani Pradhan confirmed:
We received a complaint from a truck driver regarding illegal money collection at the mines. Based on our preliminary investigation, we have arrested five individuals involved and registered a case under Sections 296, 308(6), and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
Sources revealed that Nand Kishor Agarwal also owns a coal transportation firm named IB Valley Transport, and is suspected of running an organized illegal collection network from coal-laden trucks operating in the Jurabaga Mines area of Lakhanpur.
Police investigations are ongoing, and more arrests are likely as the authorities dig deeper into the extortion racket operating in the region’s mining sector.
