Madurai: Close on the heels of the recent raids in granite quarries in Madurai, the police on Monday registered a First Information Report against leading miners in the region, including Union Chemical Minister M K Alagiri’s son Dhayanidhi Alagiri and the owner of PRP Exports P R Palanichamy for alleged illegal quarrying.
The district administration had filed a dozen criminal complaints against granite companies such as PRP Exports and Olympus Granites after a report compiled by former Madurai Collector U Sagayam estimated a loss of several crores of rupees to the exchequer due to alleged illegal quarrying.
“Dhayanidhi and one Nagaraj are partners in Olympus Granites which had illegally engaged in mining in an area owned by the Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN),” Keelavalavu Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Parthiban said. However, sources close to Dhayanidhi claimed that he had ceased to be a partner in the firm in 2010.
Likewise, the E Malmpatti VAO Mohammed Ali charged that “the PRP Exports had encroached upon five acres of Government land for carrying out mining. Later, they brought sand in around 300 trucks to cover the illegal quarry sites in Erichakulam irrigation channel. This is the second complaint to be registered against the firm.”
“Totally 12 FIRs including 11 have been filed against granite quarry owners for illegal mining,” a senior revenue officer said. Officials were using the Global Positioning System to survey the quarried region. It was also alleged that when a Revenue Department team went to inspect the PRP granite quarry on Monday, the company’s employees attempted to prevent officials from entering the area.
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