Mining mafia ‘attacks’ two govt officials in Ropar village

Tribune News Service
Ropar, January 21

Two government officials inspecting a riverbed near Agampur village here had to flee to save their lives when they came under an attack by goons of mining mafia recently.

According to information, residents of Mothapur, Gobindpur Bela, Thona and Amarpur Bela villages had told senior officials regarding large-scale mining near their villages.

Machines seized

Officials found that mining was being done using two machines and tippers on the riverbed, which were seized

Later, Sardari Lal, Assistant Engineer in the Panchayati Raj Department, and Harjinder Singh, a Junior Engineer with the Mining Department, were directed to assess the situation.

Tonnes of material lifted

• There are many pathways on the riverbed to ferry sand & gravel
• Lakhs of tonnes of material has been lifted from the area
• There are many deep pits all over the Sutlej riverbed

Accompanied by villagers, Sardari Lal and Harjinder Singh reached the spot on Monday and found that mining was being done using two machines and tippers on the Sutlej riverbed. They seized the machines and tippers and informed the police.

Before the police could arrive, a large number of persons involved in mining reached the spot and attacked villagers and them. They, however, saved their lives by fleeing from there and hiding in nearby fields, said the officials.

Denying any laxity, District Mining Officer Sukhwinder Singh Kalsi said action had been taken against offenders whenever it came to their notice.

A complaint has been lodged with the police regarding illegal mining. He said they didn’t mention about the attack in the complaint as it was only a clash between villagers and accused. The officials ran away exercising precaution, he said.

Anandpur Sahib SHO Harkirat Singh said the accused had not been identified so far.

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