Raipur, Oct 1  Hundreds of local residents were illegally mining diamonds at a site in Chhattisgarh since July, when securitymen guarding it were removed, the state's main opposition party Congress alleged here Thursday.

"A panel of Congress leaders made an on-the-spot visit last week to the diamond-rich Pailikhand area in Raipur district and found mass illegal diamond mining going on after securitymen deployed at the site for years were withdrawn by the state government," Congress state unit general secretary Ramesh Varlyani told IANS.

Pailikhand is about 150 km from state capital Raipur, close to the Orissa border.

"A six-member party panel found that hundreds of people had thronged the diamond-rich site at Pailikhand for illegal mining and it has been happening since July 18 this year when the government withdrew securitymen deployed at the 10-hectare diamond rich stretch," Varlyani said.

"It's open loot of diamonds from a site that has confirmed deposits of the world's best quality diamonds. Congress has dashed off a letter to Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan on the basis of the panel's findings and requested him to intervene," he added.

In 2000, the state government had deployed securitymen at the site and had banned people from visiting it without permission. (IANS)