New Delhi: Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), the country's largest producer of coking coal, has claimed that CISF's intelligence apparatus "failed" to check illegal coal mining and ensure security for its staffers in the collieries of Dhanbad in Jharkhand, flagging "serious gaps".
The paramilitary force, however, rejected the allegations.
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The 'Miniratna' company has asked the force to "comprehensively" review the functioning of its Crime and Intelligence Wing (CIW) and launch an inquiry into multiple past incidents, including those involving allegations of "possible involvement" of its personnel with coal syndicates.
On April 15, a director-rank official of BCCL sent a letter to the CISF Eastern Sector headquarters in Ranchi stating that the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) intelligence wing deployed at the sensitive and high-risk mines area was exhibiting "persistent, widespread and systemic failures" that have become a "serious" security concern.
Mentioning a recent incident, the letter stated that its GM (security) was "openly manhandled" by members of the alleged coal mafia in Block-II mines on April 10.
The letter claimed this was a "highly alarming" example of CISF's failure, as security personnel were accompanying the officer while he was inspecting CCTV cameras which were being "repeatedly" damaged.
"This clearly reflects a grave failure of the security apparatus and raises serious concerns about the safety of senior BCCL officials even in the presence of CISF deployment," the letter read.
The police filed an FIR in connection with this incident.
Hafeezul Qureshi, the GM (security), stated in his complaint that while the accompanying CISF quick response team "saved" him on the occasion, he was concerned that such a "breach" took place in the presence of the force.
A senior CISF officer told PTI that personnel "promptly" rescued Qureshi and ensured his safety, adding that the accompanying security team showed "no lapse".
"Senior force officials visited the mines area to conduct a local inquiry into the April 10 incident and found no lapses. The CISF intelligence wing is ensuring that no crimes take place in the BCCL mines area and any claim to the contrary will be investigated," he said.
The CIW is a specialised CISF team responsible for collecting intelligence and preventing sabotage at critical installations.
In the letter, BCCL also informed the security force that footage sourced from the control room shows "illegal" coal loading taking place "openly" near CISF duty points in Kusunda area, indicating "possible involvement" of the personnel with external individuals.
It added that "large-scale" manual loading of coal into vehicles is clearly visible but no intelligence input was generated or preventive action undertaken by the CIW.
Top officials from the two sides held a meeting on April 13 following this incident. BCCL later posted on its social media handle that discussions were held to "enhance" on-ground security measures and "overhaul" CISF's intelligence wing.
"A coordinated action plan to curb illegal coal mining and theft, ensure timely FIR lodging, and undertake confidence-building measures among BCCL employees remained the central focus of the discussions," the company posted.
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The BCCL concluded that a "cumulative" assessment of facts and incidents shows that the CISF intelligence system has "failed" and there is "serious gap" between ground reality and CISF reporting.
Bharat Coking Coal is the country's largest producer of coking coal, accounting for about 58.5 percent of domestic coking coal output in FY25. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coal India Limited and holds estimated coal reserves of about 7,910 million tonnes.
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