Accused of being involved in a illegal granite quarrying case and presently absconding, the anticipatory bail plea filed by Union Minister MK Alagiri’s son Durai was rejected by a bench of the Madras High court today.
Durai is among the 60 people named in an FIR in the case and was the director of one of the eight mining companies involved in the quarrying, CNN IBN reported.
The police has issued a look out notice against the minister’s son and has been unable to trace his whereabouts so far.
AFP
Justice Mathivanan of the Madurai bench of the court also rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Dayanidhi’s business partner S Nagarajan and also the bail application of Deputy Director of Mines Department Shanmugavel, already arrested in the case.
The court rejected anticipatory bail pleas of a granite company owner and his son in the alleged scam while granting relief to the owner’s wife.
So far 50 arrests have been made in the case and some estimates suggest the loss to the exchequer could be in the range of Rs 16,000 crore.
As Firstpost had written earlier, the scam is about illegal quarrying of granite by a handful of companies in Madurai, in southern Tamil Nadu for several years. They not only stole the granite, but also caused extensive environmental damage besides grabbing land from people including policemen.
The illegal operations have also reportedly deprived farmers of their livelihood. Officials of the Tamil Nadu Minerals Corporation (TAMIN), departments of revenue, and geology and mining and the police have allegedly connived with the quarry mafia. Apparently, one company alone owned about 3000 acres of land in Madurai and surrounding places.
Besides the kingpins who have surrendered, the DVAC (Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption) has arrested some of the officials, including a deputy director of the department of geology and mining.
The story of the granite mafia wouldn’t have been out, but for the leak of a letter by former Madurai collector U Sagayam who, in his letter to the government, had highlighted the extent of illegal quarrying in the district and had even estimated a ballpark figure of the granite mined to be worth more than Rs 16,000 crore.
