TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Arvind Lolienkar, suspended director of mines & geology, was on Friday arrested for allegedly conspiring on illegal mining with Kanpur-based private company Frost International Limited (FIL). He was on suspension for two years.
The Crime Branch Special Investigation Team has booked him under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, and sections 7, 12 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act for shielding the company’s illegalities.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Nilu Raut Desai said Lolienkar was arrested at around 12.30 pm after being interrogated Friday morning. This is the third arrest in the case with two others being the company’s assistant manager from Gujarat Subroto Barok and suspended draftsman at Mines Department Robert Gonsalves. Two directors of Magnum Minerals Company– Prashant Sahu and Ravindra Prakash– are currently jailed in another mining-related offence being investigated by SIT.
Lolienkar, meanwhile was questioned since September 2013 before his arrest on Friday. “He has not been revealing the facts…he hid the information. Evidence we have gathered from the departments of mines, customs and ports indicts him in the illegality,” an officer said.
As per the complaint, FIL transported 14 consignments of iron ore through different cargo to China by forging no-objection certificates of the Mines Department, a matter which was brought to the notice of Lolienkar by the Ports Department.
“The officer issues show cause notices to two Mines officials D K Bharve and Shobna Rivonkar in this regard. But it is merely an eye-wash because the notices also mentioned that no officer from Mines Department issued NOCs on the dates the transportations were made. He should have instead filed a police complaint but he chose not to,” an SIT officer said.
Lolienkar is also accused of not imposing penalties on FIL despite knowing it had violated the Goa Prevention of Illegal, Mining, Transportation and Storage Rules, 2004. The company had also failed to submit Forms B and C to the Mines Department to inform about the transportation, monthly returns and other details between March 25, 2010 and January 30, 2011. A loss of over Rs 12 crore to the state exchequer has been estimated so far.
The SIT has not ruled out further arrests from Goa as well as from the private company.
Barok is presently undergoing custodial interrogation on charges of exporting 1.35 lakh metric tons ore from Goa port to China on forged NOCs in 2010-11. He was picked from his home town in Gujarat and brought to Goa on transit remand where the remaining formalities were done by the SIT.
