Uliburu mining scam kingpin Deepak Gupta invested Rs 1,800 crore to buy 554.63 acres of land, of which 221.56 acres have been already mutated in his name from six gram panchayats of lakhanpur Tehsil in Jharsuguda district, a recent investigation revealed.
State Revenue Minister had ordered a probe into the land deal by the local Sub-Collector as the land transaction involved violation of the Odisha land Reforms (OlR) Act, 1960.
Sub-Collector SK Tripathy’s inquiry into the land deal found that four other companies also violated the OlR rules, apart from Deepak Steel. They are Ind-Bharat Energy Utkal ltd, Bhatia International ltd, Yasmin Steel ltd and RK Metallics Fabrication. These companies allegedly purchased 1,200 acres of land without proper approvals from the concerned authorities. Ind Bharat and Bhatia International purchased 471 acres and 74 acres of land respectively, whereas more than 665 acres of land have been purchased by Yasmin Steel ltd and RK Metallics Fabrication. All the firms were summoned to appear before the lakhanpur Tehsildar between August 17 and 19.
When asked, Jharsuguda Collector Guha Poonam Tapas Kumar assured that the District Administration would take necessary steps against the accused companies if proved guilty of violating established rules in the land deals.