Were illegal mining probe details leaked to Ramdev?

5 Dariya News

Panaji (IANS) 04-Feb-2014

Was information about the police action against a former chief minister and senior officials linked to Goa's Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam leaked to yoga guru Ramdev?Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Tuesday dodged questions about the alleged leak even as police Monday issued summons to former chief minister Digambar Kamat and four former officials.They include two who headed the state mines department, a law secretary and another bureaucrat. All of them, Kamat included, have been told to report to the Crime Branch for interrogation.Ramdev told the media Jan 28 that Parrikar assured him that five to seven "big fish" connected with the mining scam would face action soon."I had raised the issue of illegal mining... Parrikar has personally assured me that five to seven big fish in the illegal mining industry would be arrested within the next couple of months," Ramdev had said.

Parrikar Tuesday said he never told Ramdev about the proposed police action, claiming he does not interfere with police investigation."You must have told him," Parrikar told reporters, when asked how Ramdev could be privy to the police issuing summons.The summons were issued by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed in September 2013 to probe the illegal mining in which a judicial commission alleged that politicians, bureaucrats and mining magnates were linked.Deputy Inspector General of Police K.K. Vyas heads the four-member SIT. The opposition and civil society members have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of going slow in the mining probe.