Illegal sand mining: 17 trucks impounded in Tarn Taran

TARN TARAN: In a crackdown against illegal sand mining on the Sutlej river in Booh village of Tarn Taran district, the mining and police officials during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday seized 17 trucks, two excavating machines and four tractor trolleys. No arrests were made during the surprise raid.

The police have booked two persons, identified as Satpal Singh alias Pala of Booh and Satpal Singh of Chandigarh.As per the information, Satpal owns a part of land near the river bank and the illegal mining was taking place in the area from past few months.

Mining department general manager, Bhola Singh Brar, received secret information about the ongoing illegal mining on Friday.

Brar with deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Sulakhan Singh Mann raided the spot at around 11pm on Friday.

Brar said, “When we reached the spot, the labour engaged in illegal mining fled from the spot taking the advantage of dark. ”“We have recovered 13 tipper trucks, four trucks and tractor trolleys and two pop lane machines (used for sand excavation) from the spot,” he said.

Deputy commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabarwal has ordered a probe into the matter. “A team has been constituted to nab the culprits. We are examining the land from where the mining work was going on,” he added. He said a case under Section 21 of Mining Act and 379 under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered.