Special court orders arrest of Congress MLA Satish Sail, others in 2010 Belekeri missing iron ore case

KARWAR: A special court for people’s representative’s has convicted seven individuals, including Congress MLA Satish Sail, in the 2010 Belekeri iron ore missing case. A retired Deputy Conservator of Ports, and seven private companies, along with MLA Sail, were convicted in the first case.

The court will announce the quantum of punishment tomorrow while detecting the CBI to take Sail into custody.

The CBI had filed chargesheets in six cases related to the missing of iron ore and after hearing the arguments and counter-arguments, Judge Santosh Gajanana Bhat has issued the final verdict.

In the first case, Mahesh Biliye is A1, Satish Sail is A2, and A3, the company belonging to them. In the second case, Mahesh Biliye is A1, Chetan Shah is A2 and Satish Sail is A3. In the third case, Mahesh Biliye is A1, Somashekhar is A2, and Satish Sail is A3.

In the fourth case, Mahesh Biliye is A1, Swastik Nagaraj is A2,  KVN Govindaraju is A3 and Satish Sail is A4. In the fifth case, Mahesh Biliye is A1, Mahesh Kumar K is A2 and Satish Sail is A3. In the sixth case, Mahesh Biliye is A1, Premchand Garga is A2, Sushil Kumar Valecha is A3,  Satish Sail is A4 and  Raj Kumar is A5.

The court ordered that all the accused, including MLA Satish Sail, Forest Conservator Mahesh Biliye, and MLA Satish, are guilty.

Regarding the case, CBI had registered an FIR against MLA Satish Sail’s company on September 13, 2013. The investigation began following a Supreme Court order to probe illegal mining and iron ore transportation in Karnataka from 2009 to May 2010.

The CBI filed five separate FIRs, with Satish Sail owned company, Mallikarjuna Shipping Pvt. Ltd., being a prominent one. The FIR, RC 16 (A), stated that within eight months, Sail’s company had exported around 7.23 lakh metric tons of iron ore to foreign countries through Belekeri port.

According to the Central Empowerment Committee (CEC) report, between 2009 and May 2010, approximately 88.06 lakh metric tons of iron ore were exported through Belekeri port by 73 export companies. However, the required export permit (MDP) had been obtained for only 38.22 lakh metric tons.

Investigations revealed that around 50 lakh metric tons of iron ore were illegally exported during this period. It was accused that 7.23 lakh metric tons of iron ore were sent by Satish Sail owned Mallikarjuna Shipping Pvt. Ltd.

The CBI investigation team had produced documents and submitted a report that Mallikarjuna Shipping Company had close dealings with other ore shippers, including Jhunjhunwala Stockyard.

Sail w I will be arrested for the second time as an MLA. In the case of illegal export of iron ore, the CBI raided MLA Satish Sail’s houses in  Karwar-Ankola and seized important documents. After this, Sail was arrested on September 20, 2013. Sail had remained in jail for more than a year. Following that, he was released on bail on December 16, 2014.

Later, he contested the election from the Congress party and lost against the BJP’s Rupali Naik. In the 2023 Assembly election, he got a ticket from the Congress party and won from the Karwar assembly constituency.

Other convicted individuals are Chetan Shah, managing director of M/s Ashapura Minechem Ltd; K V Nagaraj alias Swastik Nagaraj and KVN Govindaraj, a director and a former director of of M/S Swastik Steels (Hospet) Pvt. Ltd; K. Mahesh Kumar alias Karapudi Mahesh Kumar, a partner in Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Minerals, and Prem Chand Garg, managing director of M/s Lal Mahal Ltd.