Shillong, July 25 -- The High Court of Meghalaya has directed the state government to fix responsibility and take appropriate action after nearly 4,000 metric tonnes of previously inventoried coal was found missing from two storage sites in Rajaju and Diengngan villages.

The directive came during a hearing on Thursday, where the division bench led by Justice H.S. Thangkhiew reviewed the 31st interim report submitted by the Justice B.P. Katakey Committee, which is overseeing coal mining and transportation in the state.

According to the report, only 2.5 metric tonnes of coal were found at Diengngan against an earlier recorded figure of 1,839.03 metric tonnes by the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA). Similarly, only 8 metric ton...