10 arrested for illegal sand mining in Punjab

18 vehicles also seized during operation carried out in six police districts on CM’s directions

CHANDIGARH: In a crackdown against illegal sand mining, 10 persons have been arrested from six police districts in Punjab in a night-long operation, director general of Punjab (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said on Sunday.

The operation, he said, was carried out in Rupnagar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar commissionerate, Jalandhar rural, Moga and Fazilka police districts on the intervening night between Saturday and Sunday on the directions of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

The raids also led to the seizure of 18 vehicles, including JCB machines, tractor-trailers and tippers, being used illegally in the night mining, the DGP added.

Giving details of overnight operation, Gupta said in Rupnagar, the raiding team nabbed three people with two sets of machinery. In Moga, two persons were arrested with two tractors and trailers.

The drive led to the arrest of one person in Hoshiarpur and confiscation of tractor trailers.

In Jalandhar commissionerate, one case was registered against a farmer for illegally mining his own fields and a JCB machine was seized, the DGP said.

In another raid in Jalandhar rural, four persons were arrested for indulging in night mining activities and three tippers and one tractor-trailer were confiscated.

In Fazilka, eight tractors-trailers used in illegal mining were seized.

‘SIMILAR RAIDS TO BE CARRIED OUT DAILY’

The DGP said similar raids will be carried out daily on the directions of the CM, who had received complaints about illegal mining being carried out at night.

The special operations, to be conducted in all districts concerned, will involve officers of the mining department. Police will accompany the civil officers deputed by the deputy commissioners, he added.

Reiterating his commitment to eliminate illegal mining completely from the state, Amarinder in a statement on Sunday said all-out efforts were being made by the government to check illegal mining activity.

OFFICIALS TOLD TO TAKE IMMEDIATE COGNISANCE

Top officials of the districts where such mining was taking place, especially in the cover of darkness, had strict instructions to take immediate cognisance and action on any complaint, he said, warning that no laxity in this regard would be tolerated.

The DGP said the chief minister has also directed the police to extend all support to the mining department and district officials in launching special raids against night mining.

Every complaint was being taken seriously and nobody found guilty of involvement would be spared, he added.

THE RAIDS WERE CONDUCTED IN MOGA, HOSHIARPUR, JALANDHAR COMMISSIONERATE, JALANDHAR RURAL, RUPNAGAR AND FAZILKA