E-Paper
Ludhiana village sarpanch among five booked for extortion
The accused, including the sarpanch of the Rajapur village in Ludhiana would, extort ₹1,200 from tractor-trolley drivers operating from a state-owned sand mine
Police initiated an investigation into an alleged extortion after the village sarpanch and four others, including a journalist, were found illegally taking money from truck operators transporting construction material from a state government-run sand mine.
The accused have been identified as Raju, who is the sarpanch of the Rajapur village, Gurdeep Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Harbhajan Singh who is a journalist and a resident of Khehra Bet, and Sukhi Buttar of Noorpur Bet.
The case was registered based on the complaint by Bisat Doab Mandal Jalandhar junior engineer-cum-mining inspector Jaswinder Singh. He told police that the public sand mine near Mao Sahib began operations on February 17 under the state government in a bid to provide construction material to people at a reasonable price. He added that the accused, with an intention to disrupt the ongoing operations, extorted ₹1,200 from tractor-trolley drivers.
Sharing details, sub-inspector (SI) Surinder Kumar said the initial investigation revealed that the accused would extort money from the drivers in exchange of allowing them passage through their village — claiming that they maintain the road.
A case under sections 384 (extortion), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), and 34 (common intention) has been registered at the Ladhowal police station after verifying the details, the SI, adding that police are conducting raids to track down the accused.
One held for illegal mining
Police, meanwhile, also booked a 25-year-old man for illegally mining sand near Chuharwali village. The accused has been identified as Ranjeet Singh.
Police registered the case on a complaint filed by Shubhdeep Singh, sub-division officer, Phillaur, Jalandhar rural. The complainant stated that he was present at Chuharwali village in relation to illegal mining when he saw the accused transporting a trolley full of sand illegally on his tractor.
He added that the mining department teams had intercepted him, but the accused managed to escape from the spot along with his tractor-trolley.
Sub-inspector Radhe Sham, investigating officer, said a case under section 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 21 of the Mining Act has been registered against the accused at the Meharban police station.
