Explore Business Standard
Illegal Mining Case
A 30-year-old mine worker's body was recovered from the rubble on Sunday morning from a stone quarry that collapsed here, a police officer said. Several more remain trapped under the rubble. Uttar Pradesh minister and local MLA Sanjeev Kumar Gond, who visited the spot in the Billi Markundi mining area after the collapse on Saturday evening, said "around a dozen labourers" might be trapped under the debris. Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Varanasi Zone, Piyush Mordia, said efforts are on to clear the debris. Police identified the deceased labourer as Raju Singh of Panari village of the same district. The ADG said clearing the rubble is taking time because it includes several heavy stones. Sonbhadra Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Verma said that they were informed about the collapse at around 4.30 pm on Saturday at Obra Police Station. The caller said that several workers were buried under the debris after a portion of a stone quarry operated by Krishna Mining
A former representative of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren leveraged "political influence" to mastermind an illegal mining syndicate in the state that generated proceeds of crime worth Rs 1,000 crore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday. The federal agency said in a statement that it has made these charges in a fresh prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed in this case on June 30 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi. "The current complaint brings to light the roles of eight additional individuals and two companies, who have been found to be integral to the criminal network orchestrated by Pankaj Mishra, the then political representative of the chief minister of Jharkhand," the ED claimed. Mishra was arrested by the ED in July 2022 after raids were conducted against him and some others. He was the political representative of Soren in his assembly constituency of Barhait in Sahibganj district. Soren has always maintained th
A special CBI court here on Tuesday convicted former Karnataka minister and MLA Gali Janardhan Reddy and three others in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) illegal mining case. The court sentenced them to seven years' imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each. Reddy was named accused number two. The court imposed a Rs 1 lakh fine on the company. Soon after the judgment the CBI took Reddy and others into custody. The CBI court delivered the judgement nearly 14 years after the CBI had filed a charge sheet against Reddy and others accusing them of tampering with mining lease boundary markings and carrying out mining illegally in Bellary Reserve Forest area on the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border. The Principal Special Judge for CBI cases Judge T Raghu Ram acquitted ex-minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and former bureaucrat B Krupanandam in the case. The court convicted Janardhan Reddy's brother-in-law and Managing Director of OMC, Srinivas Reddy (A1) and VD Rajagopal (A3), t
Goa Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte has been acquitted by a Bengaluru court in a case related to illegal iron ore mining and transportation. The verdict brings closure to a high-profile case that has been under scrutiny for several years. The case traces back to the early 2010s when allegations of widespread illegal mining activities emerged in Goa. In 2012, a government-backed inquiry led by retired judge M B Shah reported that all 90 iron ore mines in Goa were operating illegally, lacking proper environmental permissions. The inquiry estimated that illegal mining had cost the state more than USD 6 billion over five years. Consequently, the authorities ordered all mines to suspend operations from September 2012. In 2015, the Goa government renewed 88 mining leases, a move that faced legal challenges. Activists argued that these renewals were arbitrary and bypassed mandatory auctioning processes. Subsequently, in February 2018, the Supreme Court quashed these lease renewals, citing t
The National Green Tribunal has asked a petitioner to approach the Delhi Pollution Control Committee or the mining department regarding allegations of illegal instream and riverbed sand mining from the Yamuna in north Delhi. The tribunal gave the order to enable the committee or department to ascertain the extent of the illegal activity. The green body was hearing a petition by the Jagatpur village chief, or 'pradhan', who alleged that the sand mafia was illegally extracting huge quantities of the sand in the area. The petition also alleged that a bund (check dam) created near Jagatpur and Burari villages in Delhi had developed cracks because of unauthorised activities. In an order dated December 24, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel said that the complaint first required to be looked into by the DPCC or the mining department to find the "reality and extent" of the illegal mining. "Hence, we dispose of the original application (
ADGP M Chandra Sekhar, who heads the SIT which is investigating illegal mining cases, on Friday lodged a police complaint against Union minister H D Kumaraswamy and his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy for allegedly threatening him to scuttle the probe against the former CM. The probe against Kumaraswamy pertains to allegations that he illegally approved a 550-acre mining lease to Sri Sai Venkateswara Minerals (SSVM) in Bellary district in violation of law during his tenure as Karnataka chief minister from 2006 to 2008. He is now the Union minister for steel and heavy industries. "The SIT, after preparing the investigation report and having found substantial evidence and material to prosecute the accused (Kumaraswamy), had written to H E Governor of Karnataka seeking sanction for prosecution against the accused Sh H D Kumaraswamy on 21/11/2023," Sekhar said in his complaint lodged at Sanjay Nagar police station. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, vide his letter dated July 29, 2024, sought certai
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is unlikely to appear before the CBI on Thursday for questioning in an illegal mining case registered five years ago in which he is a witness, party sources said. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister is scheduled to attend a meeting of PDA "Picchda (backward classes), Dalit and Alpsankhyak (minorities)" at the party office here and has no plans to go anywhere till now, they said. In reply to a question, the Samajwadi Party's backward wing state president Rajpal Kashyap told PTI, "Akhileshji will attend a meeting of PDA at the party office today." "He is not going anywhere. He will be attending a meeting in Lucknow," Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said. About the CBI notice to Yadav, he said, "I don't have detailed information regarding this. But it is sure, he is not going to Delhi today." In a notice issued under section 160 of CrPC, the CBI has asked Yadav to appear before it on February 29, officials said. The section all
The CBI has summoned Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav as a witness for questioning on Friday in illegal mining cases, five years after registering the case. In a notice issued under section 160 of CrPC, the agency asked him to appear before it on February 29 in connection with the case registered in 2019, officials said. The section allows a police officer to summon witnesses in a probe. The case pertains to the issuance of mining leases in alleged violation of e-tendering process. The Allahabad High Court had ordered the probe. It is alleged that public servants allowed illegal mining during 2012-16, when Yadav was chief minister, and illegally renewed licences despite a ban by the National Green Tribunal on mining. It is alleged that the officers allowed theft of minerals, extorted money from lease-holders and drivers. The CBI had filed seven preliminary enquiries in 2016 on the directions of the Allahabad High Court to probe the
The Enforcement Directorate has filed an FIR with the police against former Haryana MLA Dilbag Singh and a dozen others allegedly associated with him on charges of illegal mining and "diverting" the flow of the River Yamuna. The federal agency had raided the former Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislator from Yamunanagar assembly seat, Congress MLA from Sonipat Surender Panwar and their linked entities earlier this month in an alleged illegal mining linked money laundering case. It had arrested Dilbag Singh and his associate Kulwinder Singh after raiding about 20 premises of the two politicians and their linked persons in Yamunanagar, Sonipat, Mohali, Faridabad, Chandigarh, and Karnal. These searches were based on a case, registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), that took cognisance of multiple FIRs of the Haryana Police regarding illegal mining of boulders, gravel and sand that took place in the past in Yamunanagar and nearby districts even after the lease
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided locations of Haryana Congress MLA Surender Panwar, former INLD legislator Dilbag Singh and some others as part of a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal mining in Yamuna Nagar district of the state, official sources said. As many as 20 locations of the two politicians and linked entities in Yamuna Nagar, Sonipat, Mohali, Faridabad, Chandigarh, and Karnal are being searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The money laundering case stems from several FIRs of the Haryana Police registered to probe alleged illegal mining that took place in Yamuna Nagar and nearby districts in the past.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday raided the premises of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's press advisor, the officials of Sahibganj district and a former MLA as part of a money laundering probe into alleged illegal mining in the state, official sources said. About a dozen locations in the state, including in state capital Ranchi and a premise in Rajasthan, are being raided by the central agency under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The premises of press advisor Abhishek Prasad alias Pintu, the collector of Sahibganj district, ex-MLA Pappu Yadav, an architect, some jail department officials and a police constable are being searched by the agency officials, sources said. An armed escort of central security forces went along with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials. Prasad has been questioned by the ED in this case earlier. Sources said the action was undertaken on the receipt of fresh inputs in the case. The raids com
Telangana Minister Gangula Kamalakar, whose residence was raided by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday in connection with a granite company involved in an alleged illegal mining case, said that he is cooperating with the government and will let the agencies investigate.Earlier on Wednesday ED conducted raids at Telangana minister Gangula Kamalakar's residence in Karimnagar in connection with a granite company involved in an alleged illegal mining case."ED officials have checked everything and went through all the documents, we will let the agencies investigate. We are cooperating with the government," Kamalakar said.Kamalakar, who is the Welfare & Civil Supplies Minister and was on an international trip, returned to Hyderabad city.Speaking to the media at the airport, he detailed the entire episode of the raids in his absence and claimed that he helped the officials open his lockers via a video call while he was in Dubai."We have granite companies/bodies, since the last 31