No stopping mining mafia, even cops aren’t spared

Arun Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ropar, June 21

The attack on AAP leader and local MLA Amarjit Singh Sandoa is not an isolated case of brazenness of the mining mafia in the district.

On May 11, constable Jaswant Singh along with his colleagues had stopped a tipper loaded with sand illegally dug up from Lohand khud, near Kiratpur Sahib police station. The driver had fled the spot, but when the policemen were ferrying the impounded vehicle to the police station, some mafia men roughed them up and took away the vehicle. Jaswant Singh had sustained injuries on his jaw and was hospitalised.

Despite this, his seniors did not register any case against the accused in this regard. Jaswant Singh, who had told The Tribune about the incident, later said in his statement that he got injured as he fell while chasing the tipper driver.

Illegal mining is rampant at Lohand Khud village. The locals say nearly six persons from a nearby village are involved and they enjoy the patronage of a senior politician.

A few years ago, the pillars of Agampur bridge were found bare as the sand from the area was extracted. A former IPS officer had business interests in the crusher set up near the bridge. The policemen posted on both sides of the bridge had said that whenever they tried to stop people extracting sand from the area, they were threatened with dire consequences.

In fact, the illegalities could never be checked in the district despite much noise over it. The involvement of huge money, vested interests of a section of local people, senior officials and political patronage proved stronger than any measure taken up to check it.

According to an estimate, at least 50 truckloads of material used to be supplied from each of nearly 200 crushers in the district everyday before the quarries were shut down in April.

These crushers get the material from Himachal Pradesh as well. The supply is mostly local, but its volume is much more than what is supposed to be extracted from local quarries.

Residents of Nurpur Bedi area have several times staged dharnas in protest against illegal mining and damage to roads due to plying of heavy vehicles, but to no avail.

Police under pressure?

• On May 11, constable Jaswant Singh and his colleagues were allegedly roughed up by mining mafia after the cops impounded their vehicle. 
• Jaswant had to be hospitalised but his seniors did not register any case. 
• Later, in a U-turn, he said he had fallen while chasing the tipper driver.