In another act of brazenness by the sand mining mafia, subdivisional magistrate Yunus Khan of Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh was attacked as he was trying to check illegal quarrying. The police said the SDM had a narrow escape when a tractor-trailer tried to ram his official “flying squad” vehicle.
“SDM Yunus Khan was there to check illegal mining with other officials yesterday. When he spotted two vehicles loaded with gravel and sand, he signalled them to stop. But one of the vehicles accelerated towards his vehicle and tried to hit it,” superintendent of police S. Arul said.
The tractor-trailer driver, Makhan Singh, was arrested.
“We got reports of other incidents where illegal mining is going on, and are investigating... More people will be booked once the investigation is over,” Mr Arul added.
Mr Yunus, interestingly, is a batchmate of Greater Noida SDM Durga Shakti Nagpal, who has been suspended and chargesheeted by the Uttar Pradesh government for trying to check sand mafia activities.
Himachal Pradesh DGP Sanjay Kumar said a case was filed over obstructing a government servant from doing his duty.
“At this point, we can’t say it’s a case of illegal mining. We are looking into it,” he said.
Nalagarh is in the Shivalik foothills, which has seen considerable sand and gravel smuggling for years. Sources said the SDM was facing a lot of pressure from local politicians.