7 HELD FOR ILLEGAL MINING IN TARN TARAN; TRAILERS SEIZED

JALLOKE WAS

THE ONLY MINE AUCTIONED IN THE DISTRICT; THE CONTRACT OF THIS TOO, WAS CANCELLED IN NOVEMBER 2017

TARN TARAN: The sadar police of Patti have arrested seven men for illegally mining sand from Sutlej river at Jalloke village; 30-km from district headquarters, on Monday. Seven tractor-trailers have also been confiscated.

There are eight mines in Tarn Taran district, of which Jalloke was the only mine auctioned soon after the Congress government took over. The contract of it too, was cancelled in November 2017, after the contractor failed to pay instalments to the mining department. Those arrested are Kulwant Singh of Bainka, Balkar Singh of Pahuwind, Rajveer Singh of Gulalipur, Baaz Singh of Pandoori Gola, and Gurwinder Singh, Daljit Singh and Bagga Singh of Mehndupur village.

PROTESTERS ALLEGE PAYING ₹1,600 PER TROLLEY

After the arrests, members of Kisan Sangharsh Committee (KSC) staged a protest, claiming that the police were implicating the small fry, while letting go the big fish.

A protester Sukhwinder Singh claimed, “Till Sunday, the henchmen of a contractor from Bhikhiwind had been charging ₹1,600 per trolley for allowing sand to be mined.”

An officer of the state mining department, on condition of anonymity said, “It was the responsibility of the department to check illegal sand mining soon after the contract of the mine was cancelled.”

Station house officer Preetinder Singh said, “A case under section 379 (theft) of the IPC and the Mining Act has been registered against the accused.”

Despite repeated attempts, district mining officer Bhola Singh Brar could not be contacted for comment.