Raipur, Sep 19 (IANS) Congress leader Ajit Jogi Monday expressed strong opposition to diamond trading firm, B. Vijaykumar and Company, saying the Chhattisgarh government should stop it from carrying out mining in Raipur district and taking away the state's precious stones.

"The company, B. Vijaykumar, has been cleared recently by a tribunal, to begin diamond mining work in Mainpur-Devbhog area in the district. The state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government must move court to stop it from beginning mining work in a confirmed diamond-deposit territory," Jogi said in a statement.

Jogi, a former chief minister, said the company was granted diamond prospecting and mining work in Mainpur-Devbhog by the Congress administration when the state was part of undivided Madhya Pradesh, but in 2001 his government quashed its licence.

Jogi says the company had challenged the 2001 government order in a tribunal that recently allowed the company to restart work in Mainpur-Devbhog area, which has some of the world's finest quality diamonds.

"Allowing mining work by B. Vijaykumar will be against the interests of Chhattisgarh state because it is probably a cover for a renowned multinational diamond company. I request leaders of the state's ruling BJP, such as Raipur Lok Sabha MP Ramesh Bais and senior cabinet minister Brijmohan Agrawal, to join me to protest and help stop B. Vijaykumar from taking away the state's precious diamonds," the statement read.

B. Vijaykumar Company officials were not immediately available for comment.

Mainpur-Devbhog, based some 150 km from state capital Raipur, has become a base of Maoist guerrillas in the past five years. Government officials shy away from visiting the interior areas and last year a small squad of Chhattisgarh police that was guarding a diamond-rich site called Pailikhand left the area saying they would return only after being provided more security.

The 18-hectare diamond-rich pocket of Pailikhand is still unprotected.