Ex MP Odedara remanded in police custody in mineral theft case

Porbandar, Sep 28 (UNI) Former Member of Parliament Bharat Odedara has been remanded in police custody for four days by a local court in connection with the Rs 54 crore mineral theft case.

Odedara, arrested on Wednesday evening was produced before the local court yesterday which remanded him in police custody.

A complaint of illegal mining had been filed by Saurashtra Chemicals Limited in October 2006 against four persons -- BJP's Porbandar city president Babu Bokhiria, Bhima Odedara and his son Laxman, and former Congress MP Bharat Odedara.

Bhima and Laxman Odedara were arrested in November last, but police had not arrested Bharat Odedara and Babu Bokhiria. After the intervention of the High Court, the police arrested Bharat Odedara on Wednesday evening. Bokhiria is presently in the UK.

The High Court had intervened on a petition by Bhagu Devani, president of Porbandar Hitrakshak Samiti, who had filed a PIL alleging that the police was dithering to arrest Bharat Odedara and Bokhiria.

Officials of Mines and Mineral Department and the local administration had conducted a joint survey of seven villages in the district and had detected illegal mining activity of over 97 lakh metric tonnes of lime stones amounting to a whopping Rs 305 crore, after the exposure of 54 crore mineral theft.

The survey had been conducted in Boricha, Barkhala, Adityana, Aniyari, Ranavav, Kutchadi and Bhod villages in the first week of November 2006.

UNI