Three injured after mafia opens fire at forest officials, villagers

Kangra senior superintendent of police Vimukt Ranjan said some people entered the private land of one Kulwant Singh and started felling Khair trees at night. The landowner, however, rushed to the spot with another villager Suresh Thakur, a former panchayat representative, and also informed the forest officials

Three people, including a forest guard, were injured when some unidentified persons who were illegally chopping down Khair trees opened fire at them in Jandaur near Sansarpur Terrace of Dehra sub-division of Kangra district on Monday.

Kangra senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vimukt Ranjan said some people entered the private land of one Kulwant Singh and started felling Khair trees at night. The landowner, however, rushed to the spot with another villager Suresh Thakur, a former panchayat representative, and also informed the forest officials.

The group opened fire as they were being surrounded by the team of forest officials and fled into Punjab. They took away Kulwant Singh’s licenced gun and left their own weapons behind.

Forest guard Sushil Kumar received minor injuries while Singh and Thakur were admitted to a hospital in Mukerian. A case has been registered.

POWER SUPPLY OF TWO STONE CRUSHERS SNAPPED

Taking action against illegal quarrying, the mining department snapped the power supply of two stone crushers in Indora area of Kangra district.

They were asked to suspend working of stone crushers immediately after receiving copies of the notices.

However, the owners neither responded to these notices nor stopped mining operation, after which the mining department wrote to the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Board asking them to snap the power supply to these units.

Neeraj Kant, mining officer, Nurpur, said challans for indulging in illegal mining activities by these stone crushers have been submitted to the local court for further action.