Goa illegal mining: BJP to meet the President, seek SIT

BJP today said it would meet President Pratibha Patil and seek constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for probe of illegal mining in Goa.

BJP Goa spokesman, Rajendra Arlekar, said here that a delegation of senior leaders, led by party president Nitin Gadkari, will meet the President on November 3.

"We will demand a probe through SIT into the entire illegal ore extraction industry," Arlekar said.

BJP's `scam expose committee' chairman Kirit Somaiya, Goa's Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar, and state BJP president Laxmikant Parsekar would accompany Gadkari, he said.

BJP would demand an SIT headed by a Supreme Court judge, he added.

"The SIT should have experts who know mining and forest laws, and police official who can probe criminal and conspiratorial angles of the Rs 25,000 crore mining scam."

Responding to a question, Arlekar said the party was satisfied with the Justice M B Shah Commission's enquiry into illegal mining, but added that the commission was only a "recommendatory authority" and could not initiate action against the culprits.