Shillong, July 29 -- Meghalaya Cabinet Minister Kyrmen Shylla has sparked controversy with his suggestion that the vanishing of more than 4,000 metric tonnes of illegally mined coal from two designated depots might be due to getting "washed away due to heavy rainfall".
The 4,000 metric tonnes of coal was dumped at Diengngan village and Rajaju village depots in South West Khasi Hills district following the submission of the 31st interim report by the Justice (Retd) Brojendra Prasad Katakey panel to the Meghalaya High Court last week.
On July 25, a division bench of the High Court comprising of Justice Hamarsan Singh Thangkhiew and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh had directed the state government to take strict action against officials under wh...