22 September,2010 07:59 AM IST | | Imran Gowhar
Lokayukta investigators recover Rs 2.17 lakh from CID officer inquiring into Rs 2,000-crore Bilikere port missing ore scam IRONY of it: Most of the iron ore in the state comes from mines inBellary,where government officials supposed to make mine ownerskeep to thelaw are allegedly hand-in-glove with offenders
The Rs 2,000 crore missing iron ore scam from Bilikere port took a new twist after Lokayukta investigators arrested Govindaraj, a mining owner, while he was bribing Venkatesh, a CID officer in return of an official favour on Sunday. Venkatesh is one of the investigating officers in the case, and tried to escape, saying he was a jeep driver and not an inspector.
Govindaraj is a brother of Mahesh alias Kharadapudi Mahesh, whose name had surfaced in the case before. Mahesh,who also owns a mining company is said to have been working closely with the powerful mining lobby operating in and around Bellary. Govindaraj had clinched the deal with Venkatesh to help his brother Mahesh to wriggle out from the case."
This is going to be an important lead for the Lokayukta, who are expecting to expose more names behind the scam.
Investigators have filed a corruption case against Mahesh, Govindaraj and his advocate Veerabhadrappa.
Officials had also booked Venkatesh as an accused,but later decided to make him an approver, a senior officer said.
The trap
Lokayukta officials had been trailing Govindaraj since Saturday. Venkatesh had gone to meet Govindaraj in a lodge in Gandhi Nagar in his official vehicle. During the arrest, officials seized cash worth Rs 2.17 lakh from them; an initial enquiry revealed that the deal was fixed for Rs 10 lakh.
The team searched Govindaraj's hotel room, and confiscated 10 SIM cards and three mobile phones that he had used to communicate about the progress of the deal. The police also managed to recover Govindraj's call details, for the last few days, which runs into 100 pages. "This material evidence is going o be a clinching evidence to nail the accused in the case," an officer said.
Pressure tactics
Soon after the news of the arrest, senior officers from his department started mounting pressure on the Lokayukta officials not to bring the CID's name in the case. However, considering the magnitude of the case, Lokayukta officials decided to include his name for further investigations.
Govindaraj has been produced before the court and has been remanded to judicial custody.The court will see his bail application on Wednesday, and the prosecution is likely to file an objection. Superintendent of police, Madhukar Shetty refused to comment on this issue, stating that the matter was under investigation.
| The Case |
| >> On March 20, 2010, the assistant conservator of ports, NG Hittalamakki seized five tonnes of illegal iron ore worth around Rs 150 crore, which several companies had been trying to export. |
