340 held for illegal mining in Orissa since January

BHUBANESWAR - Three people were arrested Sunday for illegal mining in Orissas mineral-rich Keonjhar district, taking the total number of people held for the offence to 340 since January, police said.

The accused, Sajid Hembram, Rengta Hesa and Abdul Wahid, were arrested from the Barbil area. “They were sending the minerals to (neighbouring) Jharkhand (state) since last year,” Superintendent of Police A.K. Singh told IANS.

They were already wanted by the police in several cases. The district headquarters of Keonjhar is some 230 km from here.