5 held for illegal extraction of minerals from Chakki rivulet

Nurpur, March 15

The police arrested five persons and seized a poclain machine, a JCB machine and three tippers for illegally extracting minerals from the Chakki rivulet near Damtal last night.

The suspects were identified as Dharambir, Shammi Bhardwaj, Deepak, Sanjeev and Rakesh.

The seized machines were owned by stone-crushing units set up in the Damtal area. A case under Sections 379 and 34 of the IPC and Section 21(1) of the Mines and Minerals Act has been registered against the suspects.

Nurpur SP Ashok Ratan said investigation was on to ascertain the owners of the seized machines. He said the Damtal police had yesterday issued three challans for illegal mining and recovered Rs 14,700 as penalty from the offenders.

He said acting tough on illegal mining, the Nurpur police had registered four cases and seized 24 vehicles and banned excavators, which were being used in illegal operations in the past over three months.

“Besides, 171 challans had been issued for illegal mining and Rs 15,74,400 recovered in fines during the same period,” the SP added.