Ex-Cong MLA from Punjab held in illegal mining case
AMRITSAR: The Punjab Police on Friday arrested Joginder Pal, former Congress MLA from Bhoa in Pathankot, in connection with an illegal mining case.
The development comes days after the Punjab vigilance bureau arrested former Congress minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and booked his successor and party colleague Sangat Singh Gilzian under the Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged irregularities in the forest department.
Shauharat Mann, station house officer (SHO) at Taragarh in Pathankot, said: “Joginder Pal has been arrested in the FIR number 49, which was registered at the Taragarh police station on June 8.” Before the assembly elections, Pal had also courted controversy by thrashing a youth, who had questioned him about works done by him after getting elected to the Vidhan Sabha.
The FIR under which the former MLA has been arrested was registered on the complaint of mining inspector Vishal Attari under Section 21(1) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. The case pertains to illegal mining reported from Maira Kalan village which falls under the Bhoa assembly segment in Pathankot district, from where Pal was elected as the MLA in 2017. He lost the seat to the Aam Aadmi Party’s Lal Chand Kataruchak in 2022.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Pathankot, Arun Saini said that acting on “reliable telephonic information”, a police team was sent to the site of a crusher near Maira Kalan village on June 8, where some people were found carrying out illegal mining using a JCB machine.
The SSP said the police teams managed to recover the JCB machine and a tractor-trolley from the spot, but the driver identified as Sunil Kumar and the representative of the crusher, Prakash, managed to
flee. The JCB machine was registered in the name of Krishna Washed Stone Crusher, Kidi Khurd village, Taragarh, he said. “During investigations, it was found that former Bhoa MLA Joginder Pal has 50% share in Krishna Washed Stone Crusher,” he said.