India, April 7 -- BJP leader and former Sundargarh MLA Kusum Tete has urged Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to order a high-level investigation into the alleged rampant coal smuggling from the Kulapada-Telendihi reserve forest area in Hemgir block of the district.

In a letter to the CM, Tete alleged that large-scale illegal coal mining and smuggling have been going on for years, causing massive loss to the state exchequer. She claimed the coal mafia continues to operate with impunity despite the presence of one of Asia's largest opencast coal mines in the region, run by the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a Navratna company under the Government of India.

Tete said that although legal mining operations are underway through l...