Some of the major companies named in the cases include Adani Enterprises, Obulapuram Mining Company of Reddy and B S K Trading owned by H D Ramesh, younger brother of former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
The CBI had closed cases of alleged illegal export of iron ore from four ports, Karwar and New Mangalore in Karnataka and Panaji and Mormugao in Goa, at the preliminary enquiry stage. The state Cabinet on January 16, 2018 decided to hand over these cases to SIT for a re-probe.
The CBI had taken up two preliminary enquiries pertaining to instances of export from Goa ports in March 2015. The CBI sent a communication in December 2016 that the enquiries were closed since legal scrutiny revealed that there was no prima facie case to justify registration of FIR.
In a further communication to the state government, the CBI quoted the Lokayukta report stating Railways was major mode of transportation from Karnataka and on arrival at Thinaighat and Sanvordem railway stations in Goa, the iron ore was blended with the iron ore from Goa to improve the quality. The CBI enquiry said 1.67 crore MT of iron ore was exported from ports in Goa between 2006-2010.
"Since many exporters have blended iron ore of Goa origin as well as Karnataka origin before export, it was impossible to segregate,'' the CBI had said. It also stated that the total exports from both the ports are much less than the permits issued by Department of Mines and Geology.
In the other preliminary enquiry reports, the CBI stated that there were certain `unexplained' quantity of iron ore exported from both New Mangalore and Karwar ports. The letter intimating closure of enquiries said the state government is the competent authority to take action under the MMDR Act.
The CBI report said 2.85 crore lakh MT of iron ore was exported from New Mangalore port and 79 lakh MT of iron ore from Karwar port between 2006-2010. The `unexplained' quantity as per the CBI was 57.53 lakh MT from New Mangalore port and 20.27 lakh MT from Karwar port.
