He brought them back to the quarry where they had their throats cut

Directors at India's largest mining company are accused of murdering people with learning difficulties in the boardroom in human sacrifice rituals to bring them good luck before big deals.

Lorry driver Mazhuventhi Sevakodiyan has sensationally claimed he snatched people off the streets and brought them back to the headquarters of PRP Granites in Keelavalavu in south-east India.

Back at the quarry, he said their throats were slit by directors in sacrificial rituals whenever the company was set to expand.

Grim discovery: Police searching the site last week said they had found seven skeletal remains attached to coconuts in a sign that those people buried there may have been victims of human sacrifices

Allegations: Lorry driver Mazhuventhi Sevakodiyan said he picked mentally-ill people up off the streets and took them back to PRP Granites where they had their throats cut

Mr Sevakodiyan was told that the vulnerable people were being rounded up and held at the plant to be 'rehabilitated'.

But one night Mr Sevakodiyan told police he learned the truth when he saw the bodies of two men he had picked up slumped in the back of a car, each with their throat cut.

He said he watched as the victims were buried in a grave next to a river bank at the plant.

‘I believed what they were telling me until that night when I saw two people, whom I had brought in, being dragged to the river bank late in the night,' he said.

‘Their throats were slit and they were buried. I soon realised that it was a human sacrifice and that they had done it before an idol.'

Detectives, who started digging at the site last Sunday, have told MailOnline so far they have discovered the remains of seven people. The skeletons had coconuts tied to them, a sign that the deceased may have been the victims of human sacrifice.

PRP Granites in Keelavalavu, Tamil Nadu state, is owned by Indian tycoon Pinnathevar Palanichamy, who is worth at least £2billion.

Company lawyer Verrpan Manoharan today described Mr Sevakodiyan's claims as 'lies'.

Mr Manoharan said he is a 'bitter' former employee, who made up the story because the company bought his father’s house years ago and he feels cheated because it’s now worth considerably more.

Mr Sevakodiyan said bosses at the plant told him the vulnerable people with learning difficulties he was picking up off the street were being brought back to the office to be 'rehabilitated'.

Explaining his story to police, he said: 'The PRP head office was in Keelavalavu near Madurai and they had quarries in other districts.

Denial: PRP Granites, in south east India, is owned by tycoon Pinnathevar Palanichamy (pictured), who is one of the country's richest men, worth at least £2billion. PRP's lawyer called the claims 'lies'

Digging: Police started to dig at the plant last Sunday and have found the bodies of seven possible victims. Their remains have been sent off to a laboratory for tests to help identify them

‘Whenever we made an inspection trip, we were asked to pick up mentally ill people on the way.

‘We didn’t have to force them to get into the vehicle. We simply had to hold their hands, and they would step inside the Jeep or Sumo.

'On the way, the first thing we did was to buy them good food, as much as they wanted. By the time we returned to Keelavalavu, it would be early morning.

'We would drop them outside a room at the headquarters. They would be locked there for several days.'

Mr Sevakodiyan added: 'We had to cross the dry riverbed to reach the quarry site. While returning, a Jeep with a supervisor approached from the opposite direction.

'As we crossed, I saw bodies of two men in the rear of the Jeep. Their throats had been slit. They were the two I had picked more than a month ago.'

The driver was ordered to stop the vehicle and the Jeep carrying the bodies stopped on the riverbed, he said.

Mr Sevakodiyan claimed he watched the bodies being buried with a bulldozer from a distance and was told he would be buried the same way if he told anyone about the incident.

‘There were times when we couldn’t find any mentally-ill person,' he added. 'Once I asked Mr Palanichamy’s driver about the people being brought and kept in the room.

Rebuttal: Indian tycoon Pinnathevar Palanichamy (centre), owner of PRP Granites, has been described by his lawyer as a 'God fearing man' and 'not superstitious'. The company deny all of the allegations

Tests: District police chief Vijayendra BidariIt told MailOnline it will take at least a week for the skeletal remains to be analysed to possibly identify any potential victims

‘He said the owner was helping them, rehabilitating them. He said such acts would bring him fortune.'

Mr Sevakodiyan said he worked as a driver for the firm from 1999 to 2004. After he left the company 11 years ago he made a statement to police, but his complaint was not taken seriously.

It was not until recently that Mr Sevakodiyan made a second complaint and this time it was followed up by police, who began excavating the site.

In a statement, police confirmed that officers had discovered human bones belonging to seven potential victims.

District Police chief Vijayendra Bidari said the remains had been taken away to be analysed and that identification would take at least a week.

He added: 'There are complaints that people were killed, mostly the mentally-ill, after they were picked from the streets. They were killed in the manner animals are sacrificed. In the skeletal remains we found Sunday, coconuts had been tied to body parts.'

A police spokesman said that they are investigating the role of a tantric Hindu Godmen, who allegedly led the rituals.

Detectives are investigating cases of people who went missing in the area between 1999 and 2004.

PRP Granites has hit back at Mr Sevakodiyan's allegations. Company lawyer Mr Manoharan told MailOnline: ‘These are lies. Anyone can make allegations, especially when there are a lot of enemies against our company.'

Mr Manoharan added that Mr Sevakodiyan had only worked for the company for three days - not the five years he had claimed to.

Remains: Mr Sevakodiyan said he pointed to the spot where he saw two of the victims being buried before digging at the plant last Sunday

Burial site: Mazhuventhi Sevakodiyan told police he snatched people off the streets and brought them back to PRP Granites (pictured) where victims had their throats cut in the boardroom before being buried

He added: ‘Mr Sevakodiyan has a problem with us for buying his father’s property when he was a miner.

‘Now that land prices increased he is probably trying to get his land back. He probably feels that we cheated his family in that purchase.