‘No one will go scot-free, it’ll be a mockery of democracy’-11/9/11

‘No one will go scot-free, it’ll be a mockery of democracy’

Kallol Biswas, an upright officer of the Indian Forest Service, literally stumbled upon the illegal mining mafia in Anantpur. In this explosive interview with Ramesh Palvai, he names names — of bosses who threatened him and star politicians who backed Gali Janardhan Reddy.

Why did you slap notices of illegal mining on the Obulapuram Mining Company after the demise of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, although you were aware of the violation of law since 2006 when you were the divisional forest officer (DFO) at Anantpur?

I did not know about illegal mining until I went to inspect the mines after receiving complaints from lease holders. Mining barons had great political clout and did not bother staying in touch with forest officials in their day-to-day mining business. My conscience did not allow me to ignore illegal mining after visiting the Anantapur Mining Company (AMC), a sister concern of OMC.

How did you come to the conclusion that Janardhan Reddy and his brothers were engaged in illegal mining when the mines and geology department had remained silent over the years?

As I told CBI officials, OMC exported 38 lakh metric tonnes of fine-grade iron ore by availing itself of transit permits in the name of AMC. They used to dump fine quality iron ore in the AMC after smuggling it from other mines in Karnataka. This was ex-ported in the name of the AMC. It was evident that the AMC had low-grade ore. Besides, it was not possible for a lessee to excavate such huge quantity of ore from just two-metre depth pits in the abandoned AMC.

Did you inform your higher authorities while slapping showcause noti-ces on the OMC?

I did not inform them as they had nexus with mining barons, and they might have foiled my attempt to corner Mr Janardhan Red-dy if they were informed earlier.

What was the basis of your belief that several political leaders and bu-reaucrats were involved in this multi-crore irregular operation?

The OMC got a former CM of Andhra Pradesh to intervene in the Y. Mahabales-warappa & Sons iron ore mine lease dispute. He threatened lessee Satish to enter into a sub-lease agreement with his close aide who was one of the directors of Jagathi Publications owned by YSR’s son, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. Not only YSR, several political leaders, irrespective of pa-rty affiliations, were involved in these mafia activities to safeguard their mutual interests.

Can you share the bitter experiences you had with your bosses after you made allegations against OMC?

Yes, sure. The principal chief conservator of forests (vigilance), Sammi Reddy, tried to fix me in the case to protect senior IAS officers, including Janaki. P. Kon-dapi and former mines and geology director Rajagopal.

Mr Sammi Reddy directly told me that the government had ordered a CBI probe into illegal mining, hence some complaint had to be made against me in order to deflect the probe from going into the role of higher authorities.

In fact, Rajagopal’s brother-in-law, Rajasekhar, had applied for OMC lease even before Mr Janardhan Reddy had done so. But the lease went in favour of Mr Janardhan Reddy against the rules as the latter reached a pact with Mr Rajasekhar. There are so many violations of rules and regulations that they can’t be explained in a day.

Do you think that illegal miners won’t go scot-free? After all, they lobby with politicians and bureaucrats.

Yes, I believe in democracy and our courts. No one will go scot-free. It will be a mockery of democracy if they did not face action. A staggering amount of `20,000 crore was lost to the exchequer on account of illegal mining.

Have you noticed any other illegal mines owned by Mr Janardhan Reddy apart from the OMC?

Yes. Mr Janardhan Reddy encroached on the Donemalai iron ore mining site of the National Mineral Development Corporation in Karnataka.

How did bureaucrats help mining barons in sustaining illegal business activity?

The then district collector, superintendent of police and divisional forest officer of Bellary were transferred by former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa as Mr Janardhan Reddy was trying to topple his government in 2009.

But the same officers were reinstated in Bellary after Mr Yeddyurappa and Mr Janardhan Reddy reached a pact in Delhi within 10 days.

If the CBI finds fault with you in connection with the illegal mining case, what action will you take?

I will face any probe and be ready to sacrifice anything to prove my innocence.

Mining activity has gone on without controversy in the past. Why did it suddenly generate so much interest?

Because all the miners tried to get a monopoly over the business. The issue became more complicated when Mr Janardhan Reddy eyed a piece of land that belonged to another miner S.K. Modi where fine quality iron ore was in abundance.