Illegal mining of precious stones surfaces again in Kodagu forests

 Two arrested; Rs. 7 lakh worth unpolished stones seized

Madikeri: Illegal mining of precious and semi-precious stones has once again raised its ugly head inside the Reserve Forests of Kodagu, especially in the district’s border areas with Kerala and Hassan. 

There are organised gangs that operate inside the thick forests and are plundering the forest wealth. 

Yesterday, Forest Department personnel arrested two persons for mining inside the Pattighat Reserve Forest near Bhagamandala and seized 25 kgs of precious stones. Another 50 kgs of stones have been seized based on the clues provided by the accused. 

The estimated cost of the seized precious stones (in raw stage) is Rs. 7 lakh and once the stones are pieced, polished and shaped, it will cost in many lakhs, said Department officials.   

The arrested have been identified as M.K. Salim, President of Mekeri Jumma Masjid and M.D. Sharif, a resident of Thyagaraja Colony in Madikeri. Forest sleuths are searching for the other three accused who are absconding including Anil, a resident of Madikeri near Gowda Samaja, Mohammed Ali, a resident of Thyagaraja Colony and Rashid of Bettageri.

Rampant illegal mining of precious stones has been reported from the Pattighat Reserve Forest near Bhagamandala where smugglers are unearthing gemstones, hoodwinking the Forest Department.  These precious stones are extracted from the forests and are sold at a premium to luxury hotels, spas and jewellery shops.

The pristine forests of Kodagu, especially the Pushpagiri-Kadamakallu Range that borders Subramanya Forest, Suttathmalai, and Uppukala near Balugodu are constantly targeted by illegal miners. Reports of such illegal mining surfaced 10 years ago where organised gangs used to extract the precious stones from the Pattighat Reserve Forest area and smuggled them into far off places under the very nose of forest officials. 

Usually, the stone-mining activity picks up pace during the rainy season as the drenched soil on the hills provide ideal conditions for digging and extracting the stones. After the Forest Department and the District Administration took necessary steps including fencing of forest area and recruitment of locals to keep an eye on such activities, the illegal activity came to a temporary halt.

But the mafia resurfaced four months ago and villagers reported the illegal activity to Madikeri District Forest Officer Prabhakaran. Following definite information, the forest sleuths raided the houses of Anil and Sultan and seized bags containing precious stones. 

As part of the operation, houses owned by the relatives of the accused were raided and precious stones were seized. When officials raided the house of one Sultan in Ganapathy Street in Madikeri, they recovered 25 kg of precious stones.  Another 25 kg of precious stones were recovered from the house of one Andayi in Sampaje. Raids were carried out at Madenadu and Jodupala as well as a house in Kohinoor Road in Madikeri. Sultan and Andayi are also absconding.