Thiruvananthapuram | Jan 14, 2015:
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Tuesday requested the District Collector to stop all mining activities at Mookkunnimala immediately.
Superintendent of Police (SP) E. Sherifudeen, on the direction of VACB Director Vinson M. Paul, informed the Collector that a criminal investigation was on into the protracted fraud and corruption in the illegal conversion of government land, assigned for rubber cultivation, into granite quarries in the once-scenic hill, now denuded by years of industrial-level mining.
Illegal mining
The illegal mining continued unabated, and thus, the loss to the government and pecuniary advantage to the mining firms were mounting, the VACB communication reportedly said.
The agency also demanded immediate suspension of five officials named accused in the graft case along with several others.
(Source: http://www.thehindu.com/)