Anti-mining panel leaders held, released

Our Correspondent
Talwara, October 19

On the last day of the election campaigning, before the roadshow of the Chief Minister in favour of Congress candidate Indu Bala in Mukerian, the police had detained three leaders of the Mining Roko Zameen Bachao Struggle Committee, Hajipur, near here.

A journalist, who reached the police station after getting information about the incident, was allegedly made to sit there for an hour.

Dharmendra Singh, the secretary of the committee who was also detained, said he was working at his shop as a matter of routine when he was detained and taken to the police station.

Akshat, a Talwara resident and a member of the committee, who was about to go to a private hospital in Mukerian at that time to know the well-being of his relative, was taken into custody.

Jasbir Singh, a differently abled son of Tote village sarpanch and a member of the committee, who had been to a local medical store to buy some medicine, was also detained by the police.

The committee had been fighting against illegal mining and illegally-run stone crushers since the SAD-BJP regime. They have been alleging that the stone crushers near residential areas remained closed for two-and-a-half years, but are reopening now. The police today detained the committee leaders on the pretext of preventing any inconvenience to the roadshow taken out by the Chief Minister.

Dharmendra and Jasbir alleged that police personnel misbehaved with them during their detention at the police station and even threatened to implicate them in false cases.

Meanwhile, DSP Ravinder Singh was not available earlier on phone as he was reportedly busy due to the CM’s visit to the town. Later, he did not pick the call.