CBI files criminal case against 3 top mining officers

BHOPAL: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday registered a criminal case against three top officers of the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), including controller of mine (Central zone) Ranjan Sahai and two partners of Katni-based mining company - M/s Pacific Exports - for alleged illegal mining and export of iron ore worth over Rs 1,000 crore.
Office and residential premises of Ranjan Sahai in Nagpur were searched during countrywide raids at 15 places, including Katni and Jabalpur districts in the state and Mumbai, Udaipur and Guwahati on Friday, said sources. This case has been registered at the CBI's anti-corruption branch (ACB) in Jabalpur district.
While CBI officials claimed that the company crossed the permissible limit, owners of the company termed it an outcome of confusion created by documents.
"We have not done any illegal mining, there is some confusion. The court has already fined us for the overproduction. Nothing else... everything would be cleared during investigations," claimed J P Agrawal, a major shareholder of mining company.
CBI officials said, "Pacific Exports was granted lease to mine 80,000 metric tonnes (MT) iron ore at Jhiti village in 2010-2011, but it excavated 12 lakh MT in connivance with the IBM officers. The Jhiti iron ore and laterite mine having an area of 27.05 hectare was granted from August 18, 2010 to August 17, 2040 for 30 years.
Prima facie, the case has been registered against Pradeep Mittal and Sumit Agrawal of Pacific Mines, IBM's controller of mines Ranjan Sahai (Nagpur), deputy controller of mines P P Chakrabarti (Jabalpur) and senior assistant controller of mines S S Satkal (Jabalpur).
Ranjan Sahai was recently questioned by the Bhopal unit of CBI for several hours for his alleged links with controversial mining baron Sudhir Sharma. Sahai's name figured in the Sharma's diary, which was seized during an income tax raid.