A media report quoted a government statement which shows that over 40,000 cases of illegal mining were recorded in Maharashtra in 2011-12 and this was far higher than around 26,000 cases in 2009-10.

The report sourced this information from a statement prepared by the union Minister of Mines Dinsha Patel in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

The media report further points out that not a single first information report (FIR) was filed on these illegal cases in the state.

It also shows that in states like Rajasthan, the number of cases recorded actually registered a decline. Cases were filed in Andhra Pradesh only when one of the biggest beneficiaries chose to challenge the Congress at the hustings.