Ropar: 6 members of Ilaqa Sangharsh Committee booked for ‘extortion’

Tribune News Service

Ropar, November 13

Two days after arresting contractor Rakesh Kumar Chaudhary allegedly for illegal mining, the police today registered an extortion case against six members of the Ilaqa Sangharsh Committee today. Stone crusher owner Dalbir Singh had alleged that some committee members had extorted more than Rs 2 crore from stone crusher owners.

The committee had been formed by residents of several villages, including Bhalan, Bhanam and Taraf Majari near Nangal, to oppose illegal mining in the area.

‘Collected Rs 1L from each stone crusher owner’

• The case was registered on the complaint of stone crusher owner Dalbir Singh
• He alleged the accused used to collect Rs 1 lakh from each stone crusher in the area per month

The accused identified as Tikka Yashvir Chand, Vishal Saini, Hardev Singh, Jarnail Singh, Surinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh were at the forefront of the protest against desilting of the Swan river-bed by the state government near Bhallan village a few days ago.

On Friday, an audio clip purportedly of a conversation between the complainant and Vishal Saini, a committee member, had gone viral on social media. In the clip, there was a discussion over extortion by committee members. Yesterday at a press conference, a large number of stone crusher owners had levelled allegations of extortion against the six accused.

In his complaint, Dalbir Singh, who has a stone crusher near Algran village, said he used to get raw material from legally allotted quarries at Sansowal, Bhallan and Taraf Majari villages. He alleged that the accused, accompanied by more than a dozen unidentified people, intercepted their vehicles loaded with material. They threatened to stop them from ferrying the material till they were paid as per their demand.

In the complaint, Dalbir Singh alleged that the accused used to collect at least Rs 1 lakh from each stone crusher owner in the area per month.

Nangal SHO Danish Veer Singh said the police had started an investigation after registering a case under Sections 384 and 385 of the IPC against the accused.

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