Orissa mining scam: IAS officer under the scanner

The state vigilance department has requested permission from the government to question a senior IAS officer for his suspicious role in the multi-crore Orissa mining scam that broke in 2009.

The state vigilance department has requested permission from the government to question a senior IAS officer for his suspicious role in the multi-crore Orissa mining scam that broke in 2009. So far,the the vigilance department has registered seven cases relating in the mining scam in which chargesheets have been filed against 16 persons.

Though the vigilance has lodged cases against officers such as former Director of mines,this is the first time an IAS officers role is being viewed with suspicion. Director of Vigilance Anup Patnaik said his officers want to interrogate the former Mayurbhanj District Collector and now Vice-Chairman of Bhubaneswar Development Authority,Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh,a 1993-batch officer.

Patnaik said in April 2002,Singh as Mayurbhanj DC had recommended transfer of lease from one leaseholder to another person without going through the necessary procedures. The transfer of lease for Kasiabeda iron ore mines in Mayurbhanj raises a lot of questions. His role is under the scanner. We have sought government sanction for his interrogation, said Patnaik. The department has also sought government sanction for chargesheeting 10 more mining department officials of Mayurbhanj.

Story continues below this ad

There have been four PILs in the Orissa HC demanding a CBI probe into the scam. Though the Union Mines Ministry has expressed its readiness for a CBI probe into the matter citing the report of Indian Bureau of Mines,the state government is vehemently opposing it. The Bureau had found considerable illegal mining of manganese and iron ore in Keonjhar district.

The state government,which has appointed senior Supreme Court advocate Mukul Rohtagi to plead for it in the High Court,has been opposing the pleas made by several petitioners for CBI probe into the mining scam.

The state government has suspended 128 mining leases for various minerals,including iron ore,manganese,chromites,limestone,while 482 licenses granted for trading and storage of minerals have been cancelled to stop illegal mining.

Tags:
IAS officer

‘Grave insult to wounded people’: Cong lashes out at PM Modi amid his first Manipur visit

India5 min ago

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Manipur for the first time since ethnic violence hit the state in May 2023, the Congress on Saturday called it a “farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people”.

View all shorts

Live Blog