PMO behind covert operation to bust Rs 4 crore Rajasthan mining scam

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan anti-corruption bureau's covert operation to bust the mining scam was kept secret from the state government, including chief minister Vasundhara Raje and home minister Gulab Chand Kataria. Sources in the government told TOI that the operation was carried out at the behest of the PMO.

The ACB had on Wednesday arrested 1983 batch IAS officer and state mining secretary Ashok Singhvi and seven others and seized over Rs 4 crore from different locations. The ACB was acting on state mining lobby's report to the PMO and BJP president Amit Shah six months back about being fleeced by officials.

Kataria said, "I wasn't aware of the operation. I came to know about it when arrests began in Udaipur on Wednesday. I was convinced with the evidence presented by the ACB team and congratulated them." A source in the CM's office said Raje, too, learnt about the operation only when ACB officials arrived at her office for sanction for Singhvi's arrest Wednesday evening.

"It was only after the raids we shared the details with the CM," said an ACB officer on condition of anonymity.

IG, ACB, Dinesh MN led the operation - he was one of the accused in the infamous Sohrabuddin encounter case and got bail last year after which he was reinstated with Rajasthan police. He told TOI, "This is how ACB works. If we start sharing everything word may get out and alert the culprits."

Dinesh refrained from disclosing whether he was in touch with the Centre, saying, "Around two months ago, I got information that mining officials, at the behest of their seniors, were harassing miners by closing mines and restarting these after taking hefty bribes. We collected evidence against Sanjay Sethi, who was the 'single-window' between mining officials and mine owners." Sethi too was arrested.

He said the success of the operation was result of a proper homework. "Since I had worked as SP, Udaipur, I got many important information that helped me and my team to crack the case," Dinesh added.

Arrested IAS officer Ashok Singhvi had returned to the state from Central deputation after Raje returned to office for the second time in 2013. Singhvi was mining secretary for five years during Raje's first tenure (2003-08).