Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government on Wednesday
suspended Director of Mines Rabi Narayan Sahoo for his alleged
involvement in the multi-crore mining scam and appointed J R
Patnaik in his place.
Sahoo, who was recently questioned by anti-corruption
sleuths, had allegedly allowed Shakti Ranjan Dash, a power of
attorney holder for Ram Bahadur Thakur Limited (RBTL), to
engage private security guards at the government-owned
Redukela and Katashi manganese mines in Keonjhar district.
"Sahoo did not take approval of the government before
allowing a private party to guard the mines," an official
said, adding that he was facing a departmental inquiry.
The DoM, who is currently on bail, had also allegedly
toured Singapore without informing the government, which
amounted to breach of discpline on the part of a civil
servant, the official said.
Chief of the anti-corruption wing Anup Patnaik had
mentioned in his interim report to the government last month
that mineral valued at about Rs 100 crore had been smuggled
out of the state.
Bureau Report
