Jajpur: Even as the recovery of iron ores buried near Jakhpura railway siding in this district will complete three years in June, the issue still remains unresolved with the culprits roaming scot free and yet to be booked, a report said Monday.
The mines department in Jajpur Road had then lodged a complaint at the Jakhpura police station. However, the mines officials and police have effectively managed to suppress the incident by passing the buck on each other, it was alleged.
Meanwhile, an order by Orissa High Court has come as a ray of hope for many. Justice SK Mishra, hearing a petition filed by Soumyajit Prithwiraj, general secretary of Sri Jagannath Nirman Shramik Sangha, has asked the latter to file his complaint before the magistrate under Section 156(3) if the police or the local SP has failed to register a case and conduct a probe April 25.
Prithwiraj has filed a case in the court of judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) in Jajpur Road after getting the order.
Years back, the state steel and mines department and forest department jointly raided the Jakhpura railway siding in Dangadi block and recovered the smuggled iron ores buried June 5, 2015. A laboratory examination report found the seized samples of superior quality. The mines department on receiving the report held the then Zilla Parishad member Mahendra Dhal responsible for the fraud and issued him a show cause notice. Later, the district mines officer Asit Kumar Behera lodged an FIR in the Jakhpura police station requesting police to register criminal case against Dhal July 10, 2015.
The Jakhpura police instead of registering a case tried to pass the buck on the mines department. The mines department has special power to register cases and police will only provide it only legal assistance, the then SP Anup Kumar Sahoo had said. Later, the mines department also did not move further in the case.
Prithwiraj filed a complaint in the high court after the case failed to make any headway April 24, 2017. The high court on hearing the petition passed the order which has come as big relief.
When contacted, mines officer Behera said various types of mineral are buried which are of sub-standard quality and are of no use. He however, assured to take measures in this direction.
