Brother in a bind

He was joined by TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu who said that permissions and environment clearances were not given by the Centre.

“The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest and other Central departments did not give permission to mining in that area. Permission was given only for exploration. The land belongs to tribals who are opposing mining. The AP government gave the land to Rakshana Steels last February because it belongs to YSR’s son-in-law,” he alleged.

Minister for Mines and Geology B Srinivasa Reddy refuted the allegation and said the mining activity was being carried out by the state-owned Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation. “A private company,Rakshana Steels,is limited only to transportation of the mined ore,” he said.

The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation had entered into a joint venture agreement with Rakshana Steels for mining iron ore in Khammam and Warangal districts in February 2009 when YSR was the chief minister. However,it appears that the state government was in too much of a hurry to give the mining lease even before the exploration could be taken up and did not wait for the Centre’s approval.

“The state government signed the joint venture agreement without waiting for the Centre’s permission. The agreement is void since it was signed much before the state was allowed to explore the area for iron ore,” Naidu said.

The Opposition parties are demanding cancellation of the mine lease and a probe by a House Committee.

Rakshana Steels has issued a statement saying Anil Kumar did not hold any position in the company and that it did not have any connection with him.

Anil Kumar is no stranger to controversy. Married to Sharmila,daughter of YSR,his prayer-meetings across the state ahead of May 2009 elections raised many eyebrows. The AP government was accused of providing state machinery for his use.

Anil Kumar,40,started religious preaching over a decade ago under the aegis of Anil World Evangelism.

Till December 2008,he conducted his prayer-meetings outside the state. He announced his arrival with a Jesus Christ Blessings Festival in Secunderabad in the first week of December 2008,which was attended by YSR and his entire family.

Observers said he was propped up against self-styled evangelist K A Paul,founder of Gospel to Unreached Millions and Global Peace Initiative. Paul publicly accused YSR of being vindictive because he did not provide funds for his elections and thus was holding back funds for his various charity organisations. Anil Kumar established Anil World Evangelism at Hyderabad.

Ten years ago,Anil Kumar was caught on the wrong side of the law. In November 2001,an illegal international calls racket was busted in Hyderabad following a complaint by the BSNL that some telephone booth operators were misusing the services of a private telecom company to terminate incoming international voice calls bypassing the VSNL gateway and BSNL network. The police booked cases pertaining to the violation of the Indian Telegraphic Act and Section 420 of the IPC against four persons,including Anil Kumar who surrendered to the police.

On March 29 last year,police raided a guesthouse in Karimnagar and found Rs 10.40 lakh in cash with three pastors who said that they were waiting for Anil Kumar. As elections had been announced,the Chief Electoral Officer I V Subba Rao sought an explanation from Anil Kumar who claimed that the money was meant for religious purposes and not for election.

A week later on April 6,Anil Kumar was arrested by Khammam district police for violating the model code of conduct. The police filed a case against Anil Kumar and three other pastors for defying police orders and violating the model code of conduct at a prayer meeting at Karunagiri in Khammam district. Kumar and the pastors allegedly used the prayer meeting for political canvassing. Pamphlets urging people to vote for the Congress were distributed at the meeting.

The complaint was lodged by Khammam Revenue Department officials who were also in-charge of enforcing the model code of conduct. However,the complaint was not registered until Opposition parties protested and stepped up pressure. Though the complaint was registered on April 1,the police did not arrest the preacher. Anil surrendered on April 6 and a local court released him on bail.