Illegal iron ore trail ‘leads’ to BJP MLA,a Reddy aide

Incidentally,even as the Lokayukta was investigating the eight exporters who staked claims to portions of the iron ore loot stored at the Belikeri port,nearly five lakh tonnes of the seized ore was found on June 2 this year to have been stolen away from the port stockyard by unidentified groups.

Efforts to contact Singh failed,with his landline and mobile phones going unanswered or switched off for several days.

Investigations to trace the people behind the eight companies trying to export the ore without a licence have reportedly revealed that Singh was inducted as an additional director in executive capacity on May 9,2009,in ILC Iron and Steel. That company is a part of the ILC Industries group,headquartered in Bellary,which is involved in the trade of iron ore and is said to be linked to the seized ore at Belikeri.

Agencies handling shipment data at the Belikeri port have reportedly told the Lokayukta that ILC Industries was trying to export 54,532 metric tonnes of illegal ore.

Incidentally,the Lokayukta has also found that some of the seized ore at Belikeri was illegally extracted from a forest area adjoining a mining lease granted to Singh’s S B Minerals company and two other firms called Trident Minerals and Veeyem Minerals. Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh had written to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on July 3 directing temporary withdrawal of forest clearance given to the three companies.

“It is a matter of concern that an MLA of the ruling party is linked to a company that has been named in a complaint on illegal export of iron ore,” Lokayukta sources said.

The Lokayukta’s investigations have shown the existence of “frontal” companies at various stages of the illegal mining cycle. Sometimes companies are created only for one or two transactions and then wound up,officials said.

“The companies are acting on the directions of benamis at every stage. We are trying to follow the money trail at different stages,” says Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde.

Meanwhile,Anand Singh,who used to be a permanent fixture beside the Reddy brothers,has gone missing from public view. He failed to appear at any of the recent rallies held by them and another BJP minister from Bellary — G Janardhana Reddy,G Karunakara Reddy and B Sreeramulu — to counter Opposition allegations of their involvement in illegal mining.

Rumors are rife in Bellary that Singh is biding his time to seek a jump to the Congress.

“We have heard the rumours but he has not established contact with us,” a senior Congress leader from Bellary said.