Another iron ore scam, this time in railways!

The country’s mining scam, which runs into tens of thousands of crores, doesn’t just end at Bellary, Goa or Orissa. According to a CNN-IBN report, the Indian Railways has slapped a demand notice of Rs 660 crore on a Rs 3,00 crore private company,Rashmi Metaliks, for transporting lakhs of tonnes of iron ore meant for domestic consumption by submitting misleading documents to the Railways.

As per the demand notice accessed by CNN-IBN, Indian Railways had sent the notice to Rashmi Metaliks in August, which is now being challenged in the Calcutta High Court.

Rashmi resorted to freight evasion worth Rs 132 crore during 2008-2011, inviting a penalty of Rs 528 crore for mis-declaration, amounting to Rs 660 crore. As per the report, the Railways charge a much lower rate for transporting domestic iron ore, and Rashmi is accused of freight evasion of Rs 41.7 core in 2009.

Again in 2010-20100, Rashmi Metaliks transported 398 lakh tonnes of iron ore declaring it to be for ‘domestic use’, when it was, in fact exported from Kolkata’s Haldia port. The company is also accused of forging documents by inflating production figures in order to get priority status.

Watch video: Rail iron ore scam worth Rs 660 crore exposed