Illegal mining: Government sits on SIT postings

Promises of bringing those involved in illegal mining to book are aplenty, but the State government is yet to decide on the appointments to basic postings in the Lokayukta to assist the police in investigating the offences.

Intense lobbying for the 25-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has now come to the fore, with several names being proposed for postings from the rank of an inspector general of police (IGP) to inspectors to be part of the team investigating illegal mining.

It is said the SIT will have an IGP-rank official, one DIG, two SPs and six DySPs, whose names are yet to be finalised by the government. The SIT will also have 15 inspectors to handle the ground work. 

According to sources in the Lokayukta, the government is yet to finalise promotions for the posts of inspector, let alone that of the IGP and the DIG. It is said the government is still dilly-dallying over 130 promotions to the posts of inspector. 

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Lokayukta ADGP H N S Rao said: “We will embark upon the investigations once these appointments are made.”Three offices

The SIT will open offices in Bellary and Hospet, where the bulk of the illegal mining operations was conducted, and another in Bangalore, where it will be headquartered.

It is said the SIT will initially go into the available documents and study the cases which have been handed over to it by the government for investigation. “Once the team studies the documents, it will begin the investigations by filing the first information reports (FIR),” said Rao.

However, with the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the Lokayukta officials are sceptical about the formation of the SIT before the polls. A Lokayukta official said that by the time the quasi-judicial body gets the infrastructure to house the SIT officers, the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections will be cited as an ‘excuse’ to stall the investigations.