COIMBATORE: The special investigation team (SIT) of the Karnataka Lokayukta conducted searches at the residence of former Tamil Nadu minister Pongalur N Palanisamy in Krishna Colony in Coimbatore over violations of illegal iron ore mining in Chitradurga in that state.
An 11-member team led by inspector of police MS Bolettin visited the residence of Pongalur Palanisamy on Thursday morning and showed a court order to carry out the searches.The police team conducted searches till afternoon and did not find any documents from the house of the former DMK minister.
According to sources, Palanisamy has been running a cement factory — Maris Cements Private Limited Company — since 1989. He bought the company from Thangavel &Sons who started the cement factory at Doddabyl Adakere (DB Kere) in Chitradurga district of Karnataka in 1983.
Maris Cements was one of the leading exporters of iron ore and the manufacturer of cement with around 325 acres of land. The company’s main activities were manufacturing of cement, extraction of iron ore, extraction of limestone and extraction of other minerals like magnesium oxide, limestone, dolomite, red oxide, yellow oxide and quartz.
“We had been running the cement factory since 1989. We mined limestone from 325 acres of land belonging to the Karnataka government that we had taken on lease. Later, we possessed only 175 acres of land where we mined and had taken iron ores and supplied them to local traders who exported the minerals abroad. We have a licence and all the necessary documents obtained from the Karnataka government to run the cement factory and mining of iron ore,” said Palanisamy.
The sources added that many political leaders and businessmen were running 254 mines in Karnataka. The Karnataka Lokayukta revealed in 2011 that the mines illegally exported iron ore worth more than Rs 12,228 crore from Karnataka between 2006 and 2011. The Lokayukta arrested some political leaders. But the case had been stalled for many years.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ordered the closure of the mines in Karnataka state. “The licence for the 175 acres of land is about to expire at the end of this month. We stopped mining activities more than a decade. We don’t know why the SIT of Lokayukta carried out searches. We had enough documents obtained from the government of Karnataka for manufacturing cements and mining. We are ready to face the issue legally,” said Palanisamy.
The Karnataka state government has been extending the tenure of the SIT constituted under the state Lokayukta Act to investigate the cases of illegal mining.
An 11-member team led by inspector of police MS Bolettin visited the residence of Pongalur Palanisamy on Thursday morning and showed a court order to carry out the searches.The police team conducted searches till afternoon and did not find any documents from the house of the former DMK minister.
According to sources, Palanisamy has been running a cement factory — Maris Cements Private Limited Company — since 1989. He bought the company from Thangavel &Sons who started the cement factory at Doddabyl Adakere (DB Kere) in Chitradurga district of Karnataka in 1983.
Maris Cements was one of the leading exporters of iron ore and the manufacturer of cement with around 325 acres of land. The company’s main activities were manufacturing of cement, extraction of iron ore, extraction of limestone and extraction of other minerals like magnesium oxide, limestone, dolomite, red oxide, yellow oxide and quartz.
“We had been running the cement factory since 1989. We mined limestone from 325 acres of land belonging to the Karnataka government that we had taken on lease. Later, we possessed only 175 acres of land where we mined and had taken iron ores and supplied them to local traders who exported the minerals abroad. We have a licence and all the necessary documents obtained from the Karnataka government to run the cement factory and mining of iron ore,” said Palanisamy.
The sources added that many political leaders and businessmen were running 254 mines in Karnataka. The Karnataka Lokayukta revealed in 2011 that the mines illegally exported iron ore worth more than Rs 12,228 crore from Karnataka between 2006 and 2011. The Lokayukta arrested some political leaders. But the case had been stalled for many years.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ordered the closure of the mines in Karnataka state. “The licence for the 175 acres of land is about to expire at the end of this month. We stopped mining activities more than a decade. We don’t know why the SIT of Lokayukta carried out searches. We had enough documents obtained from the government of Karnataka for manufacturing cements and mining. We are ready to face the issue legally,” said Palanisamy.
The Karnataka state government has been extending the tenure of the SIT constituted under the state Lokayukta Act to investigate the cases of illegal mining.