Sagayam holds final phase of inquiry with customs officials

THOOTHUKUDI: The Madras high court-appointed legal commissioner U. Sagayam, who is probing into the multi-crore granite scam inquired with customs officials here on Monday over the export volume of granite from Madurai-based granite units through the Thoothukudi port.

Arriving at Thoothukudi port, where the office of the additional commissioner of customs is located at around 11 am along with his eight-member team, Sagayam had discussions with the additional commissioner of customs, N Suresh, from whom he was reported to have collected relevant documents on the shipping of granite to foreign countries by different granite operators since 2000.

Following his discussion with customs officials, the IAS officer also inspected granite boulders kept at a private shipping company yard. His team measured the length and breadth of the granite boulders and weighed them so as to verify the details given by the customs department. Sagayam also discussed with port authorities at the administrative office of the Thoothukudi port trust on the issue.

Earlier speaking to media persons, Sagayam said that the enquiry initiated by his team, following the Madras high court appointing him as legal commissioner on September 11 last year into the alleged irregularities by some granite operators, had reached its final stage, and he would submit the final enquiry report to the court soon. He also said that he had held the enquiry independently without any interference from any quarters. Sagayam, who created a flutter the previous day by exhuming the bodies of persons alleged to have been killed by a private granite miner near Madurai, refused to comment on the issue.