For over a decade, officials in Ballari district turned iron ore into a parallel currency. Trucks moved at night, weighbridges were bypassed, and export records were falsified on an industrial scale.
Our investigation reviewed thousands of pages of court filings, RTI responses, and bank records. The pattern is unmistakable: mining leases were renewed in exchange for political donations routed through a network of shell firms.
Three election cycles saw unprecedented spending in Karnataka. Campaign finance disclosures never accounted for the scale of rallies, advertising, and ground operations that defined those contests.
Victims include small farmers whose land was encroached for illegal pits, and honest miners who could not compete with operators paying no royalties. Environmental damage in the Western Ghats foothills may take generations to reverse.
The Enforcement Directorate has named twelve individuals in its latest charge sheet. Political parties across the spectrum face questions about donations they accepted without due diligence.