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Bhubaneswar, Oct 10: A war of words erupted Friday between Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram and state steel and mines minister Prafulla Mallick over the former’s allegation of illegal stocking of iron ore worth over Rs 100 crore at Rengra railway siding and nearby areas in Sundergarh district.
Oram said he would quit politics if his claim was proved wrong. His statement came in response to Mallick’s assertion that no illegality was made at the railway siding. Mallick did not accept Oram’s claim that the mines mafia secretly buried iron ore at the railway siding and nearby areas.
Mallick’s statement was based on the initial report of the Koida deputy director of mines (DDM) who said the stocks were not illegal and kept within the authorised area of the siding. The DDM justified his claim stating that they have records in this regard.
‘‘I do not accept Mallick’s statement. I challenge him to prove me wrong. I will quit politics if my claim is untrue. Let us visit the area along with media and dig the area,” an angry Oram told reporters here.
‘‘How can the minister say that there is no illegality when the investigation is incomplete? How can the minister trust an officer without going into details,’’ the Union Tribal Affairs Minister said.Oram after being informed about illegal stacking of mineral allegedly by mafia, had Thursday took up the matter with Union mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar. In a letter to Tomar, the tribal affairs minister sought a probe into the alleged illegal mining in Sundargarh district.
‘‘You are requested… to find out the legality of the transaction before it is suppressed by interested mining mafias operating in the area in collusion with the state mining officials as reported in the Justice M B Shah enquiry report earlier,’’ Oram wrote to Tomar in a letter, a copy of which was released to press.Oram said in the letter the quantity of iron ore could be 30,000 tonne to 40,000 tonne as per local eyewitnesses.
Meanwhile, Sundargarh collector BhupinderSingh Poonia said investigation into the matter was being carried out. ‘‘Action will be taken as per the law,” the collector said.
