Three more officials may face action in Uliburu scam

Purna Chandra Patra, former DDM-Bhubaneswar and two others already under suspension for their involvement in separate cases

Three more officials of the mining department including a former deputy director of mines (DDM) are under the scanner for their alleged complicity in the Rs 1,800-crore Uliburu mining scam.

The three officials who are set to face departmental proceedings are Purna Chandra Patra, former DDM-Bhubaneswar and two others who are already under suspension for their involvement in separate cases- Madan Mohan Biswal, DDM and Routray Murmu, mining officer.

These officials were posted at the Joda circle during the period of illegal excavation and despatch of iron ore by the operators of BK Mohanty mines at Uliburu from nearby forest area beyond their leasehold land by shifting the boundary pillars of the mine.

“Based on prima facie evidence, the collusion of seven officials has been found in case of Uliburu mining scam. The steel & mines department will initiate proceedings against them after completion of the ongoing Vigilance probe,” said a top official of the department.

He said, the revenue and forest departments as well as Keonjhar collector and Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) have been asked to investigate the role of their officials in the huge mineral loot case.

Recently, the department had suspended four officers — Manas Ranjan Mohanty-DDM (Bhubaneswar), Suresh Kumar Sahu, mining officer and two senior inspector of mines- Subash Chandra Barik and Ramesh Chandra Panda in connection with the Uliburu scam.

The state government had terminated the Uliburu mining lease of B K Mohanty and took control of it. Idle iron ore stock of around 300,000 tonne was to be sold by state owned Odisha Mining Corporation through the e-auction route.

The government has also vowed to take the strongest possible steps to recover the cost of illegal ore raised from the mines worth Rs 1,800 crore.

It may be noted that B K Mohanty, the original leaseholder of the mines had transferred the ownership of the lease to Deepak Gupta, the managing director of Deepak Steel and Power, via power of attorney.

The steel & mines department has decided not to renew the lapsed memorandum of understanding (MoU) of Deepak Steel & Power, which proposed to set up a steel unit in the state.