Deep nexus: Chinks in police claims on Haryana DSP's murder

Tribune News Service

Geetanjali Gayatri

Chandigarh, July 28

The mowing down of the DSP at Taoru in Nuh has left some unanswered questions even as the police have arrested 11 persons, including the main accused, in connection with the incident. While there is no ambiguity around the driver, Mittar, and the cleaner, Ikkar, as the main accused in the case, there is no clarity on whom the illegally mined stone was meant for.

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Unanswered questions

• Whom were they plying the stone-filled dumper for?
• Which stone crusher were they supplying the stock to?
• Who was purchasing from them?
• Why was the DSP ‘so charged up’ about stopping a lone dumper?
• Why was the officer not accompanied by a police party?

Also, it is not clear for whom they were plying the dumper for on a regular basis, which stone crusher they were supplying the stock to and who was purchasing from them.

Locals maintain that all dumpers off-load their stock at the local crushers on a regular basis and get “parchis” (slips) for which payments are made fortnightly. Nuh SP Varun Singla says the stone-loaded dumper was meant for local villagers, adding that the stone crushers prefer big trucks coming from Rajasthan to these dumpers, which do not have stock quantity to suit a crusher. “Our interrogation has revealed that the family has five or six dumpers and all brothers ply these separately. They generally supply this illegal stone for local consumption each time somebody needs it,” he explained.

While there is ambiguity on who the “local consumer” was on the day the DSP tried to stop the vehicle. It is unclear why the DSP was “so charged up” about stopping a lone dumper that was meant for local consumption. Also, why he was not accompanied by a police party at that time.

The SP, however, justifies. “In the past six months, we have impounded 167 dumpers. This number has already gone up to 225 since the incident took place. The impounding of a dumper means that their livelihood comes under a threat in addition to the fear of an FIR. So, every time an attempt is made to stop them, they abscond and invariably try to get away, even if it means hitting those trying to stop them,” he said. The dumper is registered in the name of Mittar’s brother, Arshad, who has also been arrested since then. The police maintain that the accused have not named any stone crusher so far. The SP states that they have no tie-ups. “They fill their dumper every time there is a local order. They don’t work for any particular crusher,” he said.

However, this explanation stands defeated since every village has dumpers and those close to the Aravallis have over 500 dumpers. Sources maintain that so much stone cannot be consumed locally and that it is no secret that it is supplied to crushers at nearly half the rate of legally mined stone.

However, the police have not investigated any stone crusher with regard to this particular case though the mining department has started a stock-checking exercise.

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