HDK aide dupes Pak firm of Rs 50 cr

Court issues warrant against Vinod Goel, owner of Janthakal Mining Company, and his two sons for supplying consignments of substandard iron ore 'as good as mud'

Court issues warrant against Vinod Goel, owner of Janthakal Mining Company, and his two sons for supplying consignments of substandard iron oreu00a0 'as good as mud'

As the bulk of iron ore smuggled from Bellary is exported to China, it seems the mining hub had only 'mud' left for neighbouring Pakistan.


Janthakal Mining Company Managing Director Vinod Goel (centre)
and his sons Sameer and Gourav are in trouble as a city court
has issued a warrant against them for cheating a Pakistani firm

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A city court yesterday issued a warrant against Vinod Goel, the owner of Janthkal Mining Company and close confidant of JD (S) state president H D Kumaraswamy, for cheating a Pakistani company of around Rs 50 crore by supplying 'substandard ore that is as good as mud'.

Goel, who has several cases of cheating pending against him, has also been accused of forging the quality certificate from the ministry of environment and forest to facilitate two shipments of 40,000 MT iron ore each from the Goa port to Karachi port in 2009 and 2010.

Calling it a breach of trust Alsaa Petroleum and Shipping returned the shipment and filed a complaint with the Indian government and the same has been forwarded to the then city police commissioner Shankar Bidri who handed over the case to the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for further investigations.

Detailed investigations by the CCB revealed that Goel, who also owns Twenty First Century Wire Rods Limited having an office in Sadashiva Nagar in Bangalore, is not only guilty of shipping substandard iron ore to the company but also accused of forging the documents of the ministry of environment and forest.

Aware of his chequered past, the CCB officials sought Goel's custody for further questioning while filing the chargesheet against him.

Last month, Goel, who is facing several criminal cases including a mining scam being probed by the Lokayukta police, was picked up by the Tiptur police from the court premises while he came to attend the court in some other case.

The view of the mining site in Bellary; Vinod Goel, the owner of Janthakal Mining Company, and close confidant of H D Kumaraswamy

He was, however, released on bail in that case later. The iron ore case will come up for the next hearing on December 2,u00a0 said Shaji Verghese, one of the advocates handling the case from government's side.

Special Public Prosecutor Satish Raikar, who was recruited by the court on special request from the aggrieved party, said that the warrant has been issued against Goel and his sons Sameer and Gourav seeking their custody for further investigations.

Goel's chequered history:
A case has been filed against Goel in Chitradurga on the charges of forging Ministry of Environment and Forests documents.

He is also accused of encroaching 30 guntas of land belonging to state forest department and using it for mining in Tiptur taluka.

Accused of cheating a Hassan-based businessman with Rs 10 lakh and failed to supply iron ore.

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has filed a chargesheet against him for evading customs duties worth Rs 4.5 crore.

The Otheru00a0Side
While Vinod Goel was not available for comment, his counsel Tommy Sebastian said that he is not handling this particular case.

"I was assigned to handle his other cases, including land grabbing and Tiptur cases," Sebastian said, adding that he was aware of the warrant issued against the businessman and his sons.