Deepak Gupta among 25 charge-sheeted by Vigilance in Uliburu mining scam

OST Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Jan 2:

The vigilance department has filed charge sheets against 25 persons, including prime accused Deepak Gupta, in the special vigilance court in Keonjhar in connection with the multi-crore Uliburu mining scam.

Sashibhusan Mishra, Vigilance SP said the charge sheet had been filed after taking into account of several reports, including those by the Tehsildar and the Mining department, which substantiated the involvement of several officials and Gupta, the power of attorney holder of Uliburu mines, in connection with the Rs 1,800 crore mining scam.

It is to be noted that the vigilance, in its affidavit filed in the court, had alleged that Gupta had illegally mined around 45.22 lakh tonnes of iron ore from Uliburu reserve forest and gained Rs 893.67 crore as profit during 2003-2010.

Gupta was operating the BK Mohanty iron ore mine at Uliburu under Joda mining circle where large scale irregularities were spotted by the state Mines department. He was found to have raised ore from the reserve forest area adjacent to the mine by shifting the lease boundary.

The anti-corruption department had arrested mine owner B K Mohanty. It had also filed charge sheets against several government officials including three deputy directors Manas Mohanty, Madan Mohan Biswal and Routray Murmu.