The controversial issue of illegal mining has taken an unexpected turn with the Lokayukta unearthing evidence of iron ore being exported from the State to Pakistan..." />
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Illegal Ore Sent to Pakistan: Lokayukta

Illegal Ore Sent to Pakistan: Lokayukta


Mangalore Today News Network

Santhosh Hegde Bangalore, August 6: The controversial issue of illegal mining has taken an unexpected turn with the Lokayukta unearthing evidence of iron ore being exported from the State to Pakistan.


Shockingly enough, no records have been found at the port itself of such a transaction, but the Pakistani government has maintained records.


The records state that 78,910 tonnes of iron ore were exported to the Karachi based Pakistan Steel (a public sector unit) by using a middlemen in Dubai. In a bid to access the records available with the Karachi and Dubai based companies, Lokayukta Santosh Hegde has written to the State government seeking permission to enlist the aid of central government departments to obtain the information. The state government has gave the nod to his request on Thursday.


The route

In December of 2009 and January of 2010, two ships loaded with iron ore left Belekeri port for Karachi. Mumbai based company Twenty First Century Wire Rods Limited, who have an office in Sadashivnagar in Bangalore, facilitated the exports to Pakistan Steel via Dubai based company Alsaa Petroleum and Shipping.


The first consignment with 39,240 tonnes of ore landed in Karachi on December 10, 2009. The second shipment consisting of 39,240 tonnes was received on January 9, 2010. Pakistani government records indicate that both the ships departed from Belekeri port.


Open secret

It was the inferior quality of the second shipment of ore that lead to the matter being discussed in the National Assembly of Pakistan. While the first shipment met all the standards as described in the agreement made by Pakistan Steel, the second shipment fell short of expectations leading to Pakistan’s Member of National Assembly Nisar Tanveer to pose a question on inferior quality of ore being supplied to the state-owned enterprise.


In his reply, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani said that owing to the bad quality of the second shipment of the ore, no payments had been made.


At the same time, Alsaa Petroleum lodged a complaint with the Bangalore police in the last week of June, stating that Twenty First Century Wire Rods Limited and two other Indian companies had supplied them with inferior quality ore. Providing documentary proof, Alsaa has stated that the ore was exported from Belekeri port to Pakistan Steel via their company.


Armed with the complaint reports and the discussion in the Pakistan’s National Assembly, the Lokayukta was stunned to see that no records existed anywhere in any of the logs collected from the Belekeri port.


An immediate visit to the Belekeri port and examination of all files yielded naught for the Lokayukta, which suspects that all records might have been destroyed. It is also suspected that the actual exports weighed far more than what is now known.


As further details can only be unearthed by the department in the Central government, the Lokayukta had written a letter to Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Kumar seeking permission. The Minister had acceded to the request in the letter which stated that the investigations cannot be completed without obtaining details from Karachi and Dubai.


Pak connection

*  Iron ore exported to Pakistan from Belekeri port
*  78,910 tonnes of ore supplied to Karachi-based Pakistan Steel,  a PSU
*  Two ships carries the consignment in December 2009 and January 2010.
*  Mumbai-based company facilitated the export
*  No records available at Indian ports
*  Payment for second shipment held up for poor quality of ore
* State Government allows Lokayukta to seek information

DHNS


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