Day later, officials hunt for quarry spotted by CM

Rachna Khaira

Tribune news Service

Jalandhar, March 7

A day after Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh spotted “illegal” mining in Nawanshahr district on his way to Kartarpur on a helicopter, the authorities are still not clear about the actual site.

Nawanshahr SSP Satinder Singh claimed that the coordinates of longitude and latitude sent by the CM showed all six quarries in its area and the quarry shown in the photograph was one of these. District Mining Officer, Jalandhar, Mahesh Khanna, too, claimed ignorance about the actual location of the site.

“The police must know the exact location as they had conducted a search on ground,” said Khanna, while talking to The Tribune today.

A press statement issued by the CMO on Tuesday confirmed the spot as Malikpur. The SSP said the aforesaid quarry had been suspended by the District Mining Officer after the contractor failed to pay the second installment. The contractor, Kudrat Deep Singh, has been booked under Sections 420, 465, 468 and 471 IPC for illegal mining at the site.

Refuted the charges, Kudrat Deep Singh said: “The photograph posted by the CM on Twitter was that of Mandhala village and not of the quarry allotted to me at Malikpur.”

He claimed that he was allocated the quarry having area both in Ludhiana and in Nawanshahr, but was not provided the approach road to extract sand from Ludhiana side. “The contractor of a nearby quarry at Sikandarpur dug up to 10-15 feet of sand from our area. I did not pay the remaining amount in protest and moved court,” he alleged.

Sources claim that the pictures were of Mandhala. “The quarry has been allocated on the name of Sunil Kumar Joshi, an aide of a top minister,” the source claimed.

The police, meanwhile, arrested 20 drivers and booked all six contractors — Jagbirinder Singh of Buraj Tehal Dass, Kudrat Deep Singh of Malikpur, Randeep Singh of Bairsall, Poonam Aggarwal of Lallewal, Sunil Kumar Joshi of Mandhala and Pinjore Royalty Company of Khoje quarry — for unauthorised use of JCB machines.