‘Activist’ demands Digambar Kamat’s arrest in mining controversy

Panaji  : Those implicated in the Justice M.V. Shah Commission report, including former chief minister Digambar Kamat, should be arrested and the Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining controversy probed by the CBI, a member of the opposition Congress party said here Tuesday.

Sudip Tamhankar, however said at a press conference that his demand was in a “personal capacity as an activist”.

“All those involved in the mining controversy, including Digambar Kamat, should be put behind bars and it should be probed by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation),” Tamhankar told reporters.

The Justice M.V. Shah Commission report on illegal mining has blamed a mafia-like politician-bureaucrat-mining industry nexus for the large scale mining controversy.

Tamhankar, an activist, before joining the Congress party a few months ago has himself filed several complaints in connection with illegal mining and in a complaint filed last year, has named Kamat as one of the main accused.

“No state level agency can probe this as there are links outside the state and big people and police officials are involved. The CBI must be brought in for investigating the Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining controversy,” Tamhankar said, adding that former chief minister Pratapsing Rane, in whose tenure the Shah Commission has established illegal mining, should also be probed.

Kamat himself has not offered comment on his name featuring in the Shah Commission report. The former chief minister, who distanced himself from the media had said: “For now I have nothing to say.”