After registering a case against him, State Vigilance police on Wednesday arrested mine owner Deepak Gupta and grilled him in connection with the illegal mining and theft of iron ore to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore. While Gupta would be produced before the Special Vigilance Court on Thursday, sources said he would be taken in remand by the police for further questioning.
Though Gupta continued to deny his and his family members’ role in the illegal mining from Uliburu iron ore mines and reserve forest area in Keonjhar district, the Vigilance police claim that they have obtained conclusive evidence to pin him down for causing a loss of around Rs 840 crore to the Government exchequer.
Cases were registered against Gupta and five other directors of Deepak Steel and Power ltd by the Vigilance police of Baleswar on July 27 under several Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and Forest Conservation Act and Section 120-B, 420, 379 and 411 of IPC.
Soon after the registration of the case, Gupta had gone underground while four of his family members, including his wife, obtained an interim relief from the High Court, which restrained the Vigilance cops from arresting the relatives of the main accused till September 11. Gupta was arrested around noon on Wednesday from an undisclosed place and brought to the Vigilance Directorate here for quizzing.
While he will be produced in the Special Vigilance Court of Keonjhar on Thursday, Vigilance cops would appeal to the court to take him to police remand for further interrogations to find out the contours of conspiracy and trace and seize the assets illegally acquired by him.
According to sources, claiming innocent Gupta has denied all allegations levelled against him and the directors of his company. The Vigilance sleuths had earlier interrogated his father Haricharan, mother Kantadevi and his wife Nitu, who are also booked in this connection. The family members had also earlier denied of any knowledge of the whereabouts of Gupta.
Vigilance sleuths claim that Gupta had illegally lifted ore to the tune of 45.22 lakh tonnes in the reserve forest areas by a power of attorney obtained from the BK Mohanty Iron Ore Mines at Uliburu under the Joda circle causing loss to the Government exchequer between 2003 and 2010.