MAOISTS LOOT AND PLUNDER NATURAL RESOURCES

REDS GOT 30% CUT IN KODA’S MINING DEALS (TIMES OF INDIA, KOLKATA, 16TH NOVEMBER 2009 by Pradeep Thakur/TNN)

Naxalites Received ‘Fees’ For Providing Cover To Illegal Operation In Jharkhand

Maoists never tire of styling themselves as the vanguard of resistance to the plunder of resources in the tribal dominated regions citing this as one of the justifications for class warfare.

But as investigations into the gigantic Jharkhand scam progresses, it turns out they were party to the loot, cornering a big share of booty from “illegal mining” which allegedly thrived during Madhu Koda’s chiefministership. Interrogation of four aides of the former Jharkhand chief minister, including his personal assistant Harinder Singh, at Delhi by Enforcement Directorate (ED) reveals Koda issued around 200 prospective mining leases – for exploration of minerals in the state – apart from 40 for mining. Though prospective mining leases are not an authorization for mining scarce resources, it is now learnt that in most of the cases businessmen who procur4ed them resorted to large-scale mining. The share of the illegal activity was equally distributed among politicians, bureaucrats and the ultras who charged a hefty fee for providing protection to the illegal operation, say officials.

Sources said the Koda aide admitted that the political establishment received Rs.10 Lakh per acre at the time of issue of such a license (total area extends to over hundreds of acres) while Naxalites got 20% - 30% on each truckload of minerals taken out of such mine. The bureaucrats who were supposed to check any illegal activity received 10% - 15% of the share of the minerals and the remainder, about 50%, was the businessmen’s share in the loot.

Also parts of this nexus are some politicians and bureaucrats who reaped rich dividend. As ED estimates Koda & Co’s worth to be at several hundreds of crore rupees, Maoists, it seems, had benefited equally from these nefarious deals.

Cross-examination of one of the alleged Koda front man and promoters Balaji Bullion Group of companies, Manoj Punamia, reveals the later had been working for many other high-profile people and that Koda was not the only ‘business’ he had in his basket. His negotiations for an SEZ in Noida, worth Rs. 4,800 crore, where payment was to be allegedly made in euros, and his other real estate contacts worth hundreds of crores in UP hint at his wide network across political affiliations and state boundaries. His expertise in managing ‘entries’ and handling high value cash transactions in banks and through hawala only helped his benefactors to launder big money in Indiana and abroad.