Some mining cases too complicated: Shah

Bhubaneswar: Justice M B Shah Commission probing the mining scam in different states on Tuesday said there were some "more complicated" cases in Odisha which required additional time for investigation.

"We have so far verified only 64 Odisha mines during five days of investigation. The delay is mostly due to involvement of some more complicated mines," U V Singh, the team leader and Principal Conservator of Forest in Karnataka, told reporters here on sixth day of the investigation.

Singh was replying a question on the snails pace of investigation of the Justice Shah Commission, which earlier visited Odisha in December last year as part of probe.

Though the commission formally began its probe from October 4 this time, it had so far gone through only 64 of the over 140 mines to be examined by the six-member team.

"The cases are so complicated that the commission could examine four to five mines in a day," said a member of the team adding, they were going deep into the matter before taking any decision on any particular iron ore or manganese mine.

The commission, which was scheduled to wind up its second phase investigation on October 11, could complete examination of maximum of 100 mines during the period, said a member adding, digital maps of mines, old records since 1952 were being examined by the commission.

"After returning from here on October 12, the commission may again visit the state for completing investigation," Singh said.

Singh also did not rule out the commission's visit to certain mines during its next visit.

However, he indicated that the team was likely to be here and examine records this time without making any field visit.