Lokayukta report after trailing illegal exports through 100 firms,4000 accounts

Still,in terms of the diligence applied by the investigators mainly Indian Forest Service officers to get to the bottom of the mining racket,the Lokayukta report can be called unparalleled.

The impact of the work is evident in the fact that for the first time a state Lokayuktas report is on the verge of being responsible for the resignation of an indicted Chief Minister.

Starting with little or no understanding of the business of illegal exports of iron ore,a core team of five investigators led by Conservator of Forests Uday Veer Singh pieced together a complex network of illegal operations involving over 100 firms.

Starting with the movement of iron ore from mining yards without permits and payment of royalties,investigators have tracked their unloading at ports in southern India,their exports primarily to China via Singapore or Hong Kong the return payment patterns through over 4,000 bank accounts of the exporting companies and the final recipients of the money.

This investigations into the illegal export of iron ore forms the crux of the second and final report of the Lokayukta in contrast to the first report that looked basically at forest encroachments,mining lease violations,overloading of trucks and sundry violations.

The Lokayukta was first asked to prepare a report on illegal mining by a government order dated March 12,2007 issued by the JDS-BJP government after BJP legislator G Janardhan Reddy accused JDS chief minister H D Kumaraswamy of receiving Rs 150 crore as kickbacks from miners in the iron ore rich Bellary district.

The first report which looked at illegal mining from January 1,2000 to July 22,2006 was presented to the government on December 18,2008. The second report was initially meant to cover a period from July 2006 up to 2009 but the scope was extended up to July 2010 by the B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP government following the seizure of 8.05 lakh tonnes of illegal iron ore at the small Belikeri port near Karwar by forest department officials.

Belikeri port seizure was turning point

Investigators involved in the second report of the Lokayukta say the iron ore seizure at Belikeri port truly set the probe on the trail of the illegal exports racket operated out of Bellary through a maze of over 100 firms and 4,000 accounts.

After we began checking the Belikeri data we realised we need far more technical expertise in the form of chartered accountants,I-T officials8230;, said an investigator. Starting with no knowledge we were able to obtain a mountain of it.

While the main investigators started their probe as complete greenhorns they had as backup the guidance of Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde and the occasional advice of former CBI officers R K Dutta and Pranab Mohanty who were attached to the Lokayukta police during much of the probe.