In more trouble for Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa, the Karnataka Lokayukta Justice, Mr Santosh N. Hegde, today said he has given “substantive” and “voluminous” evidence against the Chief Minister and others in the illegal mining in the State.
Terming the illegal mining scam as huge, he said, “In the time period of 14 months, it is more than Rs 1,800 crore.
The time period is between March 2009 to May 2010. It is the loss to the state exchequer. It is loss to the State.”
The Report has given substantive evidence whether it’s the Chief Minister, Ministers and miners in the illegal mining. “It’s a voluminous evidence”, he said, adding, the report runs into 4000-5000 pages.
“It’s a huge racket. As a matter of fact, the Chief Minister is responsible for what’s happening in (mineral rich district of) Bellary because of the fact that the Minister in Charge (of the district Mr G. Janardhana Reddy) is owner of a mining company (Obalapuram Mining Company) and a mafia-like situation is created with every official being involved. They have created a new system altogether by which they could literally bleed other mining companies”, Mr Hegde told PTI
Mr Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge, said the leak of the report yesterday would not have any impact as it would not question the validity of the report, which he was expected to submit to the Government by Monday.