E-Paper
Illegal gravel miners attack police, forest guards in Pinjore
A group of around 12 men managed to forcibly empty the contents of seized trucks and escaped with them, despite resistance from the on-duty forest and police personnel
A major confrontation erupted on the Pinjore-Baddi bypass on Saturday during an anti-mining operation when three trucks loaded with illegally mined material were seized.
The incident occurred around 12.30 pm when officials from the forest department notified the mining officer of Panchkula, Gurjeet Singh, about three illegal trucks loaded with gravel on the bypass. Acting promptly, Gurjeet, along with mining guard Tarsem Singh, head constable Kuldeep, and special police officer (SPO) Razzak, reached the scene. Upon their arrival, they found that forest officials had already detained three trucks carrying gravel, all of which lacked proper documentation. The drivers of the vehicles had fled the scene.
However, one of drivers later returned to the scene and was immediately detained, with his vehicle impounded at the Chandimandir police station. The drivers of the other two trucks did not return, prompting authorities to wait for several hours.
Later in the day, at around 5.30 pm, Tarsem and Kuldeep left with a locksmith to arrange keys for transporting the detained trucks. During their absence, a group of 10 to 12 men arrived in a black Mahindra Scorpio and a white Maruti Suzuki Alto and, allegedly led by a man identified as Mohit Mattawala, attacked SPO Razzak and forest guard Gurmeet Singh with sticks, attempting to reclaim the seized vehicles. The group also managed to forcibly empty the contents of the trucks and escaped with them, despite resistance from the on-duty personnel.
A case under several sections, including 115(1), 303, 132, 190, and 191(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as well as Section 21(1) of the Mines and Minerals Act was registered at the Pinjore police station.
