Illegal sand mining unabated in Moga, Ferozepur districts

Kulwinder Sandhu

Tribune News Service

Moga, April 4

Illegal mining continues unabated in the Sutlej belt in Moga and Ferozepur districts.

Over the past few weeks, many cases of illegal mining had come to the fore. Recently, fake weighing slips aimed at evading government taxes were found in circulation in these areas. These have allegedly been issued by mining contractors to transporters in connivance with local politicians.

The Moga Police confiscated three vehicles laden with illegal sand from the river belt and arrested two persons on Sunday. A criminal case under Sections 379, 468, 471 and 474 of the IPC and Section 21 of the Mining and Minerals Regulation Development Act, 1957, was registered against them.

Sub-Inspector Jarnail Singh, who is investigating the case, said fake weighing slips were recovered from the drivers of these vehicles. No taxes were paid by them to the government, he added.

Similarly, Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Dharamkot, was arrested along with a tractor-trailer laden with sand. A criminal case was registered against him under the Mining and Minerals Regulation Development Act, 1957.

On March 31, the police raided a farm at Sherpur Taiba village situated along the banks of the Sutlej river and confiscated two tractor-trailers laden with sand. Narinderjit Singh, in-charge of the raiding party, said the sand was illegally extracted from the fields of a local resident. On seeing the police, a few persons who were extracting the sand ran away. A case under the Mining and Minerals Regulation Development Act, 1957, has been registered against unknown persons and further investigations were on to nab the owners of these vehicles and those who were extracting the sand, the police said.

On March 28, the police arrested two persons identified as Gulab Singh and Jaswant Singh of Mahla Kalan village on the allegations of illegal mining and registered a criminal case against them.

Preliminary reports suggest that the illegally mined sand was not only transported in far-flung areas of the district but also dispatched to many other districts of the state.

Sources said illegal mining was being carried out in Peer Mohammad, Waris Wala Jattan, Khurki, Kareem Wala, Malang Shah Wala and its adjoining villages in Ferozepur district bordering Moga district.

Similar activities were also being carried out at Karaiwala, Kot Mohammad Khan, Sherpur Taiba, Melak and other villages of the Sutlej belt in Moga.

Further, a police officer said the anomalies in weighing slips indicated a nexus between government officials and sand mafia.