Rajasthan minister grabs granite mine from real owner, booked for cheating

The Rajasthan police has booked the state's revenue minister Ramlal Jat following accusations that he took illegal possession of a granite mine in Bhilwara district, threatening the man who claims to be rightful owner.

The case was registered against the minister and four others earlier this week on the orders of the high court, after the local police allegedly did not act on the complaint filed with them.

A day after case was filed, Kareda station house officer Om Prakash was removed from his post.

The matter is now being probed by the state CID, Asind deputy superintendent of police Yogesh Sharma said.

Jat, who represents the Mandal assembly constituency in Bhilwara, faces charges under Indian Penal Code sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 384 (extortion), 379 (theft) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

The minister was not available for comment.

According to the FIR, complainant Parmeshwar Joshi got the site in Raghunathpura village on lease from the state's mining department in 2012.

He was the director and a shareholder in the firm Aravali Granite Private Ltd along with partners Sundar Goyal and Chandrakant Shukla.

Joshi's partners had to pay Rs 10 crore to him under the deal, according to the FIR.

They handed over Rs 5 crore of their shareholding to Joshi and transferred the remaining share of worth Rs 5 crore to Jat. The minister transferred the lease to his relatives and refused to pay up this amount to Joshi.

"The minister said he would not pay more than Rs 2 crore and that too from the earnings from the mine,” Joshi said in his complaint.

When the complainant questioned how he could carry out the mining operations without paying for the share he acquired, Jat allegedly threatened to blow up the site.

Joshi alleged that the minister threatened he would make life difficult for him and his family.

The complainant said the minister, his accomplice Mahaveer Chaudhary and eight or 10 others threatened and thrashed his labourers, and sent them away.

In June 2022, the machinery at the mine was also “stolen”.

Joshi claimed he lodged a complaint with Kareda's SHO, Bhilwara's superintendent of police and Ajmer Range's inspector general of police, but they did not act on it. He then moved court.

Besides the minister, the others named in the FIR are Puranmal Gurjar, Mahipal Singh, Suraj Jat and Mahaveer Chaudhary.