Hamirpur police arrest 16 for illegal mining in Beas; 12 tippers, 5 JCB machines seized

Our Correspondent

Palampur, January 30

In a crackdown on mining mafia, the Hamirpur police have arrested 16 persons, seized a dozen tippers and five JCB machines from the Beas river near Sujanpur. The midnight operation, supervised by Hamirpur SP Aakrati Sharma, continued for more than eight hours on Saturday.

The SP said the police had received information that the mining mafia of Kangra district had been active for the past few months in the Beas under the jurisdiction of Sujanpur police station. They had been extracting mining material by crossing the river towards Hamirpur around midnight illegally without paying any royalty to the state government.

She said an operation to nab the mafia was planned in consultation with senior officers. Over 100 policemen along with senior officers raided the mining site near Sujanpur at midnight on Friday and seized tippers and JCB machines involved in the illegal mining. The police also arrested 16 persons, mostly drivers of the vehicles and JCB machines. She said policemen from Jangalberi Battalion, Hamirpur police lines and Sujanpur police station participated in the operation.

The police have registered a number of cases under the HP Mining Act and Indian Penal Code against the mining mafia in the Sujanpur police station. The accused have also been booked under Section 379 of the IPC for theft of government property.

The police said since the water level in the Beas had gone down, the mafia along with heavy equipment had crossed the river and had started extraction of mining material. The use of heavy machinery has been banned by the government and the HP High Court.

Sources said the impounded machinery and vehicles belonged to the owners of stone crushers functioning in Jaisinghpur. The police said the investigation was underway and more arrests were likely in the coming days.

Use of heavy machines banned

• The police said since the water level in the Beas had gone down, the mafia along with heavy equipment had become active
• The use of heavy machinery has been banned by the government and the HP High Court

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