E-Paper
Free run in Mohali: Only one conviction in 145 cases of illegal mining in last four years
Illegal mining: Apart from 145 cases , 77 are under police investigation while 60 are in trial court.
Of 145 cases that were registered by Mohali police against illegal mining in the past four years,only one person has been convicted while 14 were acquitted, revealed the district administration data.
Originally 157 cases were registered, of which 12 were cancelled by police.
The only conviction and 14 acquittal took place in 2015. Since then there has been no conviction in the last three years. The details were sent to the chief minister’s office by the district administration that was asked to prepare the database for the past four years.
It has been revealed that apart from 145 cases , 77 cases are under police investigation while 60 cases are in trial court.
Captain’s stance on illegal mining
On March 8, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had cracked the whip against illegal mining and ordered the moving of a deputy superintendent of police, Dera Bassi station house officer (SHO) to police lines while sub-divisional magistrate was asked to report to the chief secretary.
The CM had also ordered a vigilance inquiry into the matter and directed the officials to unearth the nexus between police, administrative officials and mining mafia.
The CMO office was informed that unabated mining was taking place in certain parts of Zirakpur, Satt village, Ghaggar and Mubarkpur area at night allegedly in connivance with some police officials and political leaders. In 2015, when Shriomani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government was at the helm, 52 cases and 24 FIR were registered. In 2016, 24 cases were registered by police against illegal mining.
In 2017, when the Congress government took over, 81 cases of illegal mining have been registered till March 2018.
A couple of weeks ago, a team of senior officials led by additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Charandev Singh Mann inspected various sites from where illegal mining was reported. The team came across the illegal mining operations in about 10 acres of land in Mubarkpur alone.
Machines without registration numbers
Mann had directed the revenue officials concerned to identify the farmers who owned the land in question and register case against them. During inspection, team members also found that the JCB and other machines were operating without any registration number. Investigation in this regard has also begun.
Police have registered cases following complaints lodged by the mining department officials concerned after a team led by Mann pointed out cases of illegal mining.
