Turf war over mining trade to blame

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21

The attack on Ropar MLA Amarjit Singh Sandhoa by Ajwinder Singh Baihara is apparently not a fight to stop the illegal mining operations. Rather it is a turf war to gain supremacy over the entire mining operations in the mineral-rich districts of Ropar and Anandpur Sahib.

Sources say the turf war between two politically aligned mining contractors manifested itself in Thursday’s incident.

Ajwinder Singh is close to Sahibjit Singh Sandhu, son-in-law of former Punjab Congress chief while Sandhoa allegedly had some business dealings with Kamaljit Singh Dhillon, son of sitting Congress MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, and his partner former Akali MLA Kuldeep Singh Makkar.

Sources say mining operations in the state have always been controlled jointly by contractors affiliated to both the ruling party and the Opposition party. It’s only the percentage share that changes with the change in power, with the ruling party’s contractors getting the major share, they say.

After the Congress came to power last year, the mining operations in this area reportedly changed hands and Sahibjit Singh Sandhu got the major share, though the Dhillon-Makkar group continued to operate some legal quarries.

After the Supreme Court ruling in May this year, the Dhillon-Makkar group had to surrender their quarry, but an adjoining quarry in Harsa Bela village operated by “friends” of Dhillon continued to be operational. Ajwinder Singh was allegedly running mining operations in Baihara. He has alleged that Sandhoa being the local MLA was seeking “protection money” from him for running the quarry.

Interestingly, mining has been going from the Swan riverbed for the past many years. While sources allege that the mining operations by Ajwinder Singh were illegal, mainly because he had excavated minerals by going too deep by use of earth mowers, Mining Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria told The Tribune that he was yet to assess if the operations were illegal.

“I have asked the team of officials from the Mining Department, led by the Director to check the revenue records and see if the quarrying was illegal. We are almost ready with the new mining policy, which will put an end to all illegal mining across Punjab, while bringing down the prices of sand and gravel for the consumer,” he said.

What politicians say

Sahibjit Sandhu (Cong): It is wrong to suggest that Ajwinder Singh is associated with me or that I am behind mining in that village or the attack on Sandhoa. I only own a crusher in the nearby village of Agampur, and we have business dealings with those who operate the Harsa Bela quarry, which is legal

KS Dhillon, Cong MLA’s son: We left the mining business some time back after the legally auctioned quarries were surrendered because of change in policy. In that area, Sandhu and his friends operate the quarries.

KS Makkar, Akali ex-MLA: I am no longer operating any quarry in Ropar district. Even earlier, I was involved only in legal quarrying, but now some other politicians could be involved. I or my partners had no dealings with Sandhoa even when we were running the quarries