A serious accusation has been leveled against the Jharkhand government, with state BJP President and Leader of Opposition, Babulal Marandi, alleging that the administration is creating new crimes to conceal existing ones. Marandi stated that fabricating new offenses to hide criminal activities has become a routine practice for the government and the system in Jharkhand. Recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) actions in the coal-rich region of Dhanbad have brought to light alarming evidence. Most concerning is the intelligence suggesting that certain high-ranking police officials, benefiting financially from the illicit coal trade, have tasked coal mafia operatives with eliminating their lower-level accomplices permanently. This is reportedly to prevent them from divulging crucial information. There are credible reports that individuals being questioned by the ED are now targets for assassination, a desperate measure to suppress the truth. Marandi recalled similar instances in the state where ‘encounters’ were orchestrated to destroy evidence rather than apprehend criminals. He alluded to a past Director General of Police (DGP) who faced allegations of orchestrating extrajudicial killings for hire, with even ruling party members condemning him as the most corrupt and records-shattering DGP Jharkhand has ever seen. Marandi urged the ED to exercise extreme caution, emphasizing that in Jharkhand, those who suppress the truth, not those who speak it, hold power. When political power, the administrative system, and criminal elements align, the silencing of justice becomes a mere formality.
