Congress ex-MLA from Bhoa Joginder Pal gets bail in illegal mining case

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, June 22

Former Congress MLA from Bhoa Joginder Pal was granted a regular bail by a Pathankot court in a case pertaining to illegal mining.

The Pathankot Police had registered an FIR on June 17 under Section 21 of the Mining and Mineral Act at the Taragarh Police station. Consequently, the cops had arrested the former MLA and produced him in a court which sent him in the police custody for two days. The cops had sought the remand as they wanted to dig deep into the matter of unauthorised mining being done on the outskirts of the city allegedly by Pal and others.

Day before his arrest, the police had confiscated mining material from a crusher, Krishna crushing unit, allegedly owned by the family of the former legislator. The unit had been sealed and three truckloads of mining material and a crane had been seized. According to norms, a person arrested by the police has to undergo medical examination at a government hospital before he is questioned during the remand.

Pal had spent the night in the Taragarh police station before he was produced in the court the day after his arrest. Doctors at the Pathankot Civil Hospital, who conducted Pal’s medical examination, made it clear that he was suffering from multiple heart complications. Subsequently, he was shifted to the PGI where, at present, he is in the Advanced Cardiac Care unit. Sources say his blood sugar levels have shot up to dangerous levels and his blood pressure is also said to be on the higher side.

Even as he was being shifted to the PGI news spread that the Punjab Vigilance Bureau was also seeking to book him in yet another case relating to unauthorised excavation of sand and gravel.

Officials claim with the arrest of Pal, illegal mining had come down substantially.

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