Sand mafia attacks forest officer, guard

Our Correspondent

Kharar, June 19

In a daring incident, members of the sand mining mafia attacked Block Forest Range Officer Devinder Singh and forest guard Karnail Singh near Seonk village in Kharar subdivision on the periphery of Chandigarh on Monday night, leaving them seriously injured before fleeing from the spot.

Both injured forest officials were admitted to the PGI, where Devinder’s condition is stated to be “very critical”. He has suffered multiple fractures in the skull and was operated upon, said doctors, adding that he had been kept under observation for the next 72 hours.

A naka was laid by Devinder Singh along with other employees of the Forest Department near Seonk village on Monday night to check sand mining. Around 10.30 pm, they stopped a tractor-trailer coming from Seonk village. A car was following the tractor-trailer in which some armed persons were sitting. They suddenly attacked the forest employees at the naka and inflicted serious injuries on them before fleeing.

The Mohali Deputy Commissioner, the District Forest Officer, the Kharar DSP and other senior officers of the Forest Department visited both injured at the PGI.

Kharar DSP Deep Kamal said a case under Sections 353, 186, 332, 148 and 149 of the IPC had been registered against unknown persons at the Mullanpur Garibdas police station. He said some persons had been rounded up in this connection and the police would arrest the accused soon.

AAP MLA from Kharar Kanwar Sandhu has demanded strict action against the sand mining mafia responsible for the attack on the forest officials. “Illegal mining is taking place in the river bed at Jayanti Majri, Masol, Bhagindi, Nada, Perchh and the Seonk area,” he said. Sandhu, who visited the Seonk area and the river bed on Tuesday, in a press note issued to the media, demanded that forest and mining officials be provided with armed guards when they go on raids and set up nakas to check the illegal activity. The officials who were attacked in Seonk on Monday night were unarmed.

Sandhu has also written to the Mohali DC and the SSP as well as the Punjab Home Secretary on the issue.

The MLA also met Mullanpur SHO Bikramjit Singh at Seonk, who said they had identified the culprits and had also questioned certain people in connection with the attack. “No efforts should be spared in catching the mafia goons,” the MLA told the SHO.

“Why is a former Congress minister silent on the illegal mining issue, which has been going on for the past 15 years in the area,” asked Sandhu.

Courageous officer

Block Forest Range Officer Devinder Singh is known as a courageous officer. He was also attacked near Nadda village in Kharar subdivision on the outskirts of Chandigarh in 2009-10 by the land mafia and then also he had suffered serious injuries.