Uliburu mining scam: Vigilance sleuths verify lease boundary of B K Mohanty mines

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The vigilance wing of the state police, which yesterday initiated inquiry into Rs 1,800 crore Uliburu illegal mining scam, intensified its investigation at field level on the second day to fix the parties and officials responsible for the mineral theft.

The team today verified B K Mohanty mines lease boundary and its distance from the nearby Uliburu reserve forest area to find out traces of encroachment. The team checked the records of total mineral raised and also collected the iron ore samples found there to calculate the exact amount of illegal mineral transaction.

B K Mohanty, who has 35 hactare (ha) iron ore lease at Uliburu in Joda mineral circle, is accused of illegally raising and exporting iron ore worth Rs 1,800 crore between 2003 and 2009. The miner is said to have excavated huge amount of iron ore from forest area by shifting the boundary pillars into nearby reserve forest.

The team was sent for field level investigation after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday ordered a probe into the matter. Last week, the Keonjhar collector had submitted a report to the state revenue minister, citing various irregularities in the mining scam.

At the local deputy mines director office, the vigilance sleuths checked the copies of the transit pass issued for transportation of minerals from B K Mohanty mines, which is crucial to detect the role of officials in the scam.

One of the groups of the 25-member team raided the Barbil office of Deepak Steel and Power Ltd, whose managing director Deepak Gupta was operating the B K mines by virtue of a power of attorney given by the original lessee. A special team of vigilance on Monday had raided the companys Bhubaneswar office.

The vigilance officials today went to the local tehsil office to verify the lease agreement records of B K Mohanty, sources said.