Rights body flags illegal coal trade near Assam-Arunachal border

A local body of the International Human Rights Council (IHRC) said coal was illegally mined and collected from abandoned Coal India Limited mines near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border and transported through a so-called “entry system”.

The IHRC’s Tinsukia Regional Committee outlined such activities in its investigative report on the alleged coal trade published on Thursday, July 16, 2026.

The report revealed years of illegal operations in the Itakhola area of ​​Ledo’s Margherita Sub-county.

L. Ratan Singh, general secretary of IHRC’s Tinsukia committee, said the committee found that a large number of coal-laden vehicles (ranging from pickup trucks to pickups, lorries and dumpers) pass through Itakhola district every day after bringing coal from officially abandoned mines.

The committee said that an alleged coal mafia was running this illegal business with the help of a former Coal India Limited official. “Coal supplied through this network is used to operate five brick kilns as well as coke ovens,” he said.

The committee also alleged that the alleged entry system, an accounting method for financial transactions, was controlled by a roadside dhaba that collected entry fees from vehicles.

Role questioned

Questioning the role of district officials, police, North Eastern Coalfields (a subsidiary of Coal India Limited), Forest and Railway officials, the committee said it would submit a comprehensive report on illegal coal trade to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.