Minister admits iron-ore lifting

  • 10/03/2010

  • Asian Age (New Delhi)

Bhubaneswar, March 9: Orissa mines and industry minister Raghunath Mohanty on Tuesday admitted lifting of minerals worth Rs 150 crores from different railway sidings in the Keonjhar and Sundergarh districts and assured the members of the Orissa Legislative Assembly of stringent actions against culprits involved in the act. Replying to an adjournment motion given by the Opposition Congress member Prasad Harchandan, Mr Mohanty said that an Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) had been constituted under the chairmanship of Commissioner of Rail Coordination (CRC) to investigate into the disappearance of the minerals. This newspaper had on February 21 reported that at least 36,000 metric tonnes of iron-ore illegally raised from forest areas and stockpiled at two railway sidings