Patna: A major financial irregularity involving Bihar’s mining department has come to light, revealing that the state’s MiningSoft portal was allegedly tampered with to facilitate illegal sand sales far beyond permitted limits. The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) is currently probing the scam, which is estimated to have caused a revenue loss of over ₹350 crore to the state exchequer. The investigation has been expanded across 17 districts, where 62 related cases have been registered and are now being examined together.
MiningSoft Portal Under Scanner
According to officials, the scam goes beyond routine illegal mining and points towards a serious breach of digital governance systems. Licensed operators are provided login credentials by the mining department to generate e-challans and maintain transaction records. However, this system was allegedly exploited by manipulating software parameters to artificially increase the permitted “cap limit,” enabling large-scale unauthorised sand sales.
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Investigators have also found indications that the system’s security features were deliberately bypassed. In several instances, OTP-based authentication protocols were allegedly circumvented, allowing unauthorised modifications to official records. Officials further suspect that approvals and document uploads were carried out without proper departmental clearance, resulting in systematic data manipulation within the portal.
Technical Audit Begins
EOU Deputy Inspector General Manvjeet Singh Dhillon stated that a detailed technical audit of the MiningSoft database and server infrastructure is currently underway. The audit is being conducted in collaboration with BELTRON and a central government technical agency to determine the exact nature of the system breach and identify those responsible for the manipulation.
Preliminary findings have also raised concerns over the possible involvement of personnel associated with the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Investigators suspect that access credentials and system-level permissions may have been misused to alter critical data within the portal. However, officials clarified that no final conclusion has been drawn and accountability will be established only after the completion of the technical audit.
The scam is not limited to software tampering alone, as evidence suggests the existence of a coordinated network involved in large-scale illegal sand trading. In multiple districts, licensed operators are alleged to have exceeded their authorised extraction and sale limits significantly, resulting in massive financial losses for the state mining department.
OTP Safeguards Allegedly Bypassed
The EOU further reported that certain security protocols within the mining software were intentionally weakened, allowing unauthorised entries into the database. This reportedly compromised the monitoring system and created loopholes that enabled unchecked commercial exploitation of sand resources.
So far, 62 FIRs have been registered across 17 districts, including Patna cyber police stations and various district-level cases. The EOU has consolidated all these cases for a comprehensive investigation aimed at identifying both technical and administrative lapses.
Officials emphasized that this is not merely a case of individual misconduct but potentially involves a broader network combining technical experts, administrative facilitators, and commercial operators. The scale and complexity of the manipulation suggest coordinated activity over a sustained period.
Wider Network Under Probe
The DIG confirmed that the findings of the ongoing audit will be crucial in determining how the system was breached, who controlled the login credentials, and how OTP-based safeguards were bypassed. Based on these findings, action will be taken against all individuals found responsible.
Authorities also indicated that further arrests cannot be ruled out as the investigation progresses. The case has raised serious concerns about the security of digital governance systems in the state, especially in critical revenue-generating departments like mining.
Officials added that the investigation remains active and more revelations are expected in the coming days as technical analysis and financial scrutiny continue.
