Jharkhand’s opposition leader, Babulal Marandi, has leveled serious allegations against the state government, accusing it of creating new crimes to conceal existing ones. Marandi stated that the government and its systems have developed a habit of fabricating offenses to cover up the reality of the crime situation in Jharkhand. Recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) actions in the coal-rich Dhanbad region have unearthed startling evidence of illegal activities. Most alarmingly, it is reported that certain high-ranking police officials, benefiting financially from the coal trade’s illicit earnings, have allegedly tasked coal mafia operatives with eliminating their own ground-level associates permanently. This alleged plot aims to prevent the ED from gathering crucial information from those currently under interrogation. Marandi warned that this tactic of ‘encountering evidence’ under the guise of apprehending criminals is not new to the state. Jharkhand has previously witnessed a Director General of Police accused of orchestrating contract killings and rampant corruption, with even ruling party members acknowledging his unparalleled graft. Marandi stressed the need for extreme caution for the ED, highlighting that in Jharkhand, those who suppress truth, not those who speak it, hold sway. When power, the system, and criminal elements align, the perversion of justice becomes an inevitable formality.
