ESSAR GM arrested for funding Maoists

     Raipur, September 27, 2011 A top official the Indian multi-national company ESSAR was today arrested for allegedly assisting and funding Maoists in Chhattisgarh, a senior police officer said.

     “ESSAR General Manager DVCS Verma is arrested today for assisting Maoists,” Dantewada SP Ankit Garg told ChhattisgarhTopNews.Com by phone.

     Verma is the third person arrested by the Dantewada police after arrest of a local contractor of ESSAR, B K Lala and a local resident Lingaram Kodopi on September 10, he said.

     Police claimed the Contractor was arrested while handing over Rs 15 Lakh to an alleged Maoist agent Kodopi.

     ESSAR is engaged in transporting iron ore slurry from Kirandul area of Dantewada district to its Visakhapatnam Steel Plant located in eastern coast of India, through a 267 Km pipeline and police claimed the multi-national company was allegedly paying protection money for a smooth running of the transportation.

     ESSAR Group is a multi-national conglomerate and a leading player in the sectors of Steel, Oil, Gas, Power, Communication, Shipping, Ports, Logistics, Construction and Minerals. With operations in more than 25 countries across five continents, the Group employees over 70,000 people with annual revenues of USD 17 billion.