Panaji: An open cast iron ore mine operated by a key aide of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has been red-flagged as illegal by the Goa government, according to state Forest Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues.
Rodrigues told the Goa assembly Wednesday that his department had filed a complaint against Prafulla Hede, the manager of the mine who is the NCP`s state coordinator and is known as a key aide of Pawar on Goa affairs.
In his written reply, the forest minister said Ramratan Vaidya, a mining manager at Hede`s mine located in Collem, near the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife sanctuary, had already been booked during the course of the enquiry conducted by the forest department.
Hede`s mine is one of the 17 mining outfits which have been pulled up by the forest department for illegally mining in Goa`s forests.
