India, Sept. 14 -- On the dry, cracked fields of Kurdu village in Solapur district, heavy trucks loaded with red soil rumble past almost every night. Residents know exactly what is happening - murum, a prized soil used for road construction and other building works, is being dug out illegally in large quantities. For years, villagers have been raising their voices against this trade. Yet, they say, the murum mafia continues to flourish, allegedly under the patronage of powerful political networks.

The scale of excavation is staggering. Locals allege that every night, dozens of trucks ferry murum worth lakhs of rupees out of the area, bypassing official royalty payments and government oversight. "Very few contractors go by the legal way. ...