Congress MLA Sateesh Krishna Sail sentenced to seven years in jail for theft and illegal export of iron ore

Bangalore:

A special court here has sentenced Congress MLA Sateesh Krishna Sail to seven years in jail and imposed heavy fines for theft and illegal export of seized iron ore from Belekeri port during 2009-10.

The Special Court for People’s Representatives convicted the 58-year-old MLA from Karwar, along with six other accused, on October 24.

With the conviction, the two-time MLA’s fear of losing membership of the Assembly looms large.

As director of Shri Mallikarjuna Shipping Private Ltd, Sateesh Sail was convicted on charges of theft, criminal conspiracy and cheating.

A large quantity of iron ore worth millions of rupees, which was illegally mined in Ballari, was stored at Belekeri port as early as 2010.

However, the suspect colluded with the officials and smuggled it to China.

The other convicts in the case are the then Deputy Conservator of Ports Mahesh J Biliye, Ashapura Minechem MD Chetan Shah, KV Nagaraj alias Swastik Nagaraj, KVN Govindaraj, Venkateshwara Minerals partner Karapudi Mahesh Kumar and Lal Mahal Limited MD Prem Chand Garg.

Mahesh Biliye, found guilty of criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, was also sentenced to seven years in jail, with the court imposing a fine of Rs six crore in the primary case.

In a related theft case, the convicts were sentenced to an additional three years, and the court ordered the confiscation of fines by the government.

In a second case, the court sentenced Sateesh Sail to another seven years in jail and imposed a fine of six crore rupees.

For the third case, all the accused were sentenced to five years in jail and imposed fines of Rs 20,000 along with a total fine of Rs 9.36 crore for committing fraud.

In the fourth case, Sateesh Sail, Mahesh Biliye and KV Nagaraj were sentenced to five years and seven years for fraud, with an additional fine of Rs 9.54 crore.

Shortly after the conviction, the Central Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the case, arrested him and two others.

Reacting to the development, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said, “I appeal to the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly to disqualify the MLA after he was convicted.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)