U. Sagayam, a former Authorized Commissioner and Particular Officer of the Madras Excessive Courtroom who uncovered the huge granite rip-off in Tamil Nadu in 2014, has declined to look in particular person earlier than the Particular Courtroom for Mines and Minerals in Madurai to offer proof towards these accused of unlawful granite mining. He claims that his life is at risk following the State authorities’s withdrawal of his safety element.
In a letter to the Particular Public Prosecutor—a digital copy of which is out there with Frontline—he acknowledged that the Particular Courtroom had summoned him to look on March 26, 2025. He responded by saying that he was “unable to journey to Madurai and supply proof within the stated court docket as a result of safety considerations”.
He described the withdrawal of his safety as “clearly biased, flawed, and unfair.” The choice makers, he stated, had failed to contemplate the connections and observe information of stakeholders within the granite mining trade, or to evaluate the character of the crimes dedicated and the dimensions of irregularities he had uncovered. Sagayam, due to this fact, requested the Particular Public Prosecutor to tell the court docket about his “incapacity” to adjust to its summons, citing “a transparent menace to his life”.
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In 2014, the Madras Excessive Courtroom appointed him as Particular Officer to analyze unlawful granite mining within the State, and safety was offered to him following its directions. Sagayam uncovered a robust mining mafia that had been extracting granite illegally since 1990 in and round Melur in Madurai district, inflicting a lack of an estimated Rs.1 lakh crore. He submitted an in depth report, over 600 pages lengthy, to the Excessive Courtroom in November 2015. Frontline accessed the report solely and subsequently reported the rip-off in its March 2017 subject.
He added that the choice to withdraw his safety instructed that officers “didn’t perceive the gravity of the menace notion” he was dealing with. He referred to the brutal killing of Jagabar Ali of Pudukottai district by the unlawful quarry mafia in January this yr and the tried homicide of Zakir Hussain in Tirunelveli, remarking that such incidents “don’t communicate effectively of the legislation and order scenario in Tamil Nadu”.
The homicide of Jagabar Ali underscored the impunity with which mining criminals, who recklessly exploit pure sources, function. Emboldened by systemic failures, they brutally killed a susceptible and selfless whistleblower who had fought for his native village. The cold-blooded killing of Zakir Hussain, even after he had launched a video expressing concern for his security, was notably stunning. These murders illustrate that the mafia and harmful legal parts have gained the higher hand and not concern being apprehended or punished for his or her heinous acts.
In his letter, Sagayam wrote that law-abiding residents, activists, and whistleblowers have been dwelling beneath fixed menace and concern. “It’s a free run for the hardcore criminals,” he stated. Given the circumstances, he acknowledged that he couldn’t adjust to the summons to look in particular person. He additionally knowledgeable the court docket that he could be unable to attend any future hearings or adjust to additional summons “till the restoration of the supply of safety to me is finished”.
“In his report, Sagayam estimated the loss to the exchequer at Rs.65,154.60 crore. He famous that if penalties have been imposed for restoration, the quantity could be roughly Rs.1.06 lakh crore.”
He demanded stringent motion towards law enforcement officials and criminals who, he alleged, have been hand in glove within the murders of whistleblowers and activists. Accordingly, he stated, he had approached the federal government in search of the restoration of his safety.
When contacted, Sagayam instructed Frontline that he had knowledgeable the court docket of his incapacity to look in particular person to depose owing to safety considerations. He additionally confirmed that he had written a letter to the Chief Justice of the Madras Excessive Courtroom. “I’ve nothing extra to say,” he added.
Path of the sinister rip-off
Sagayam’s report back to the Madras Excessive Courtroom laid naked the audacious nature of the granite mining operations in Madurai district, notably highlighting “its sinister facet—cash laundering”. He uncovered the direct involvement of presidency personnel, starting from clerical employees to senior officers, together with two District Collectors and officers from the Tamil Nadu Minerals Restricted (TAMIN).
The inquiry started when Justice Ok. Chandru (since retired) of the Madras Excessive Courtroom, on February 4, 2011, ordered an enquiry into allegations of irregularities and tax evasion by PRP Exports, a number one granite exporter based mostly in Melur, Madurai. The decide additionally quashed a July 2009 order by then Madurai Collector N. Mathivanan that had given the agency a clear chit. Justice Chandru directed the Commissioner of Geology and Mines to hold out a private inspection, however no additional motion was taken.
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In Could 2012, Sagayam, then District Collector of Madurai, submitted a confidential 13-page report back to the Tamil Nadu authorities alleging unlawful granite mining value Rs.16,000 crore within the district. A day after sending the report, he was transferred. His successor, Anshul Mishra, shut down 94 quarries and froze a number of financial institution accounts. Two former District Collectors, C. Kamaraj and N. Mathivanan, got here beneath the scanner of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption. A number of officers have been suspended and transferred.
In 2013, Mishra submitted his findings to the federal government and was promptly transferred to Chennai. Later, the Madras Excessive Courtroom—appearing on a PIL petition—appointed Sagayam as Commissioner of Inquiry to analyze the rip-off. Right now, granite mining in and round Madurai has come to a digital halt, with many main gamers within the trade dealing with legal prices.
In his report, Sagayam estimated the loss to the exchequer at Rs.65,154.60 crore. He famous that if penalties have been imposed for restoration, the quantity could be roughly Rs.1.06 lakh crore. It’s learnt that 98 FIRs have been registered in 2012-13 towards officers from TAMIN, and the Income and Mines and Minerals departments, in addition to towards personal mining companies. These included Olympus Granites, by which Durai Dayanidhi—the son of M.Ok. Alagiri, then Union Minister for Chemical substances and Fertilisers—was allegedly concerned, PRP Exports owned by P.R. Palanichamy, and Sindhu Granites.
