Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, May 19: The crime Branch has launched an extensive investigation into illegal mining involving a senior NCP official.
 
The investigation scope covers senior government officials including director of mines and geology, conservator of forest, chairman of Goa state Pollution Control Board and even state director of transport.
 
Deputy Superintendent of police Chandrakant Salgaoncar said that the First Information report has been registered in this case involving NCP’s national General Secretary Jitendra Deshprabhu.
 
“We will be quizzing almost everyone connected with this case,” he said.
 
Deshprabhu, whose family owns huge tracts of land in North Goa’s Pernem taluka, has been accused of indulging in the illegal mining.
 
The crime branch, on Wednesday, interrogated director of mines and geology department, Arvind Lolienkar, who is also responsible for giving mining licence.
 
As per the police, the cost of illegal ore mined was approximately Rs 50 crores.
 
The quizzing went on for almost seven hours in the office of Crime branch at Dona Paula. Salgaoncar said that various questions related to the case were asked to Lolienkar.
 
Deshprabhu’s alleged illegal mine was discovered somewhere in the year 2007 and subsequently issue was also raised in the state legislative assembly by opposition benches led by Bharatiya Janata party.
 
The mines department had also initiated inquiry into the mine, which according to them, had already exported several thousand tones of ore, without proper licence.
 
The mines department had also found 15,000 metric tones of ore stacked in the land reportedly owned by Deshprabhu’s family.
 
Salgaoncar said that Deshprabhu was issued summons to remain present before the investigating authority on Wednesday, which he ignored.