Balasore: Two political leaders were allegedly assaulted by sand smugglers and henchmen with sharp-edged weapons at Panchughanta village in Jaleswar Sunday night.
Sources said the attack was organised after filling of cases in Orissa High Court and National Green Tribunal on illegal sand mining in Subarnarekha riverbed.
The victims were identified as Samir Patra, a national council member of BJP and Subrat Bera, secretary of a farmers’ outfit Jaleswar Krushak Sangathan. The sand smugglers and their henchmen waylaid the two when Patra was talking to Bera near a Shiva temple in Panchughanta village while returning from Chapala village. The two were talking between themselves when miscreants waylaid them and hurled abuses. They attacked the two with sharp-edged weapons when the two questioned them on their outburst.
Police after getting a tip-off rushed to the spot and rescued them after one and half hours. Police registered cases against six persons after Patra filed an FIR in Jaleswar police station, sub-inspector Narendra Nath Sethi said. Patra in his FIR has alleged that he and Bera were attacked for raising their voices against illegal sand mining on Subarnarekha riverbed and the sand smugglers.
Sources said allegations of rampant sand mining from Subarnarekha riverbed is being made at different times. The sand smugglers without heeding to anybody are excavating the riverbed and smuggling sands to the neighbouring Bengal and other regions.
Alarmed over the development, Patra and Bera have lodged filed cases in Orissa High Court and in National Green Tribunal. The green body while hearing the case directed the district Collector K Sudarshan Chakraborty to conduct probes on illegal sand mining in Jaleswar Panchughanta (A) and (B) quarries and submit report to it. This perhaps irked the sand smugglers for which they attacked the two leaders Sunday night.
PNN
