Shillong, Feb. 27 -- Nine mine workers were arrested by Meghalaya police from an illegal coal mine at Umthe area in East Jaintia Hills district, and an approximate 55 metric tonnes of illegally extracted coal from the site was seized from the site in the presence of an Executive Magistrate, following due legal procedures, officials said on Friday.
Acting on specific intelligence gathered through drone surveillance, a police team conducted a mine raid on Thursday, leading to the detection of an illegal operation running in violation of existing environmental and mining regulations.
"The raid was conducted on Thursday in compliance with the ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal on illegal coal mining and transportation, and in accordan...