E-Paper
High court rejects bail plea of man accused of attempting to run over mining team in Ambala
The Punjab and Haryana high court has refused bail to a man who allegedly tried to run over a mining department team in Ambala on April 7
The Punjab and Haryana high court has refused bail to a man who allegedly tried to run over a mining department team in Ambala on April 7.
The anticipatory bail plea was from one Kulbeer Singh of Naraingarh, who was arrested while fleeing the scene. The court took note of the government counsel’s submissions that the petitioner is part of the mining mafia.
“Only recently, an occurrence had taken place at Nuh wherein a DSP (deputy superintendent of police ) was run over by persons belonging to the mining mafia. Similar occurrences have taken place at various places in Punjab where illegal mining is rampant. When caught the accused get aggressive and violent,” the counsel had submitted.
The court observed that an attempt had been made to run over the mining team. “Illegal mining is rampant in the states of Punjab and Haryana where on being caught, the accused get aggressive and violent. This kind of conduct with public servants cannot be condoned at any cost,” the bench of justice JS Bedi observed.
The mining department officials have claimed that on April 7 mining guards, who were travelling in a government jeep, stopped a tractor trolley containing river sand for checking. The driver of the tractor did not have any document or bill. While the officials were taking photographs of the tractor trolley for documentation, the owner of the vehicle and the petitioner arrived at the spot with a few people and took the keys of the government jeep.
The petitioner allegedly abused and manhandled the team and tried to flee with the tractor trolley. When the team tried to stop him, an attempt was made to run over them, the complaint said.
An FIR had been registered against the petitioner on April 8 under the Mines and Minerals Act at the Naraingarh police station in Ambala. In his plea, the petitioner had claimed that though he went to the spot, he did not try to run over the team.
The court, while dismissing the plea, observed that the petitioner is duly and specifically named in the FIR for having come to the spot and interfered with the functioning of the officials of the mining department. Releasing the petitioner on anticipatory bail at this stage would hamper the investigation, which has to be taken to the logical conclusion. Therefore, the custodial interrogation of the petitioner is certainly warranted, the court said.
