PRP Granite Scam.

PRP Granite Scam.

 P R Palanisamy, the owner of PRP Exports, one of the

largest firms, and Panneer Mohamed, the owner of Madura Granites, have been arrested in connection with the granite scam

The bail plea of Dayanidhi Alagiri, Union minister M K Alagiri’s son,and grandson of  former Chief Minister Karunanidhi  will come up for hearing before the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Tuesday in connection with the multi-crore high-voltage illegal granite mining case.

Dayanidhi Alagiri is one among a dozen people named by the Madurai district police and is wanted in connection with a quarrying case for his admitted association with a suspect mining firm.

While DMK leaders cried foul and pointed out that he ceased to be associated with Olympus Granites in 2010 itself, the police have denied any witch-hunting. They said that the fraud was happening even before 2010.

Given the fact that the anticipatory bail plea of Alagiri’s son is coming up before the court for the first time on September 4, it is unlikely that the courts will pass any interim orders any time soon.

The focus on the crackdown on illegal granite quarrying, that began a month ago has shifted to the role of government officials in the scam. Close on the heels of the arrest of three officials of Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN), another senior official was detained by the police. The official, J Rajaraman, an assistant director of department of mines, was interrogated by the police sleuths for alleged connivance with the granite mafia. “There are two aspects in our probe. One is the connivance of the officials and the other the amassment of wealth through illegal means,” said a police officer. Meanwhile, the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) sleuths conducted a raid in the premises of TAMIN office in Madurai.

The special investigation cell of the DVAC stepped into the ongoing action against illegal mining on Tuesday last. A team of DVAC officials visited Madurai and discussed about the scam with collector Anshul Mishra. They also visited the quarries before plunging into action. The district collectorate premises witnessed a flurry of activity on Sunday as a team of officials raided the office of the department of mines. The sleuths scrutinised the documents pertaining to quarrying licence and also seized some documents. More senior bureaucrats are like to face the heat if the arrested TAMIN officials spill the beans.

Let us wait and see who are all involved in this granite scam.