The Keonjhar police on Wednesday arrested and court-forwarded a local industrialist, Mukesh Singhania, 32, on the charge of extortion of money.
According to information, police conducted a raid on the house of Mukesh at Jodabasti under the Joda Municipality and recovered around `4.5 lakh in cash in 689 pieces of old `500 notes from his operation. Mukesh could not show source of getting the money.
When news of his arrest spread, two more complaints were filed against Mukesh with allegations that he had collected lakhs of rupees from them.
Mukesh, who deals with mainly iron ore and real estate business, is said to be in the list of iron mafias available with the Keonjhar police.
Notably, the Government has incurred revenue losses of lakhs of crores of rupees due to mining theft. While Keonjhar district had drawn national attention for rampant mining theft, mafias are moving freely.
However, Keonjhar SP Rajesh Pandit has initiated action against such mafias. Mukesh’s arrest is the third heavy weight arrest of criminals related to mining after Gautam Chaudhury, a owner of iron ore mine and Dukhdev Sarkar, a mining contractor.
Mukesh’s arrest has created a state of fear among mafias. Some criminals have gone absconded while others are trying for advance bail from the court, sources said.