ROURKELA: With the Supreme Court asking the CBI to go after owners of the companies involved in illegal mining in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, illegal mine owners in Koida sector are a panicked lot.After police crackdown from mid-June, there has been a drastic decline in illegal mining. As many as 56 persons have been arrested, including mines mafia Abdul Bari, who in a few years turned a millionaire from being a roadside butcher, and another Ganesh Jaiswal.Sources said there had been around 70 valid mining licences of which, only two dozen were functional till July this year. However, it is alleged that before the police raids some mine owners made a fortune from illegal extraction of iron ore and other minerals from areas that were not legally allotted to them. Sources said they fear the noose could be around their necks next. As per reports, theft of minerals has declined by 80 per cent after the crackdown with majority of mining mafias going into hiding. However, some unscrupulous individuals are still resorting to illegal extraction and transportation of iron ore. Notwithstanding police raids, unauthorised mining is clandestinely going on in the interior areas of Teherai under Patmunda gram panchayat, Karamanga and Indipur of Ganua gram panchayat.
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