Baripada: Mining officials and police personnel came under attack while trying to stop illegal sand transportation in Mayurbhanj district with sand smugglers allegedly snatching away three Hyva trucks and an excavator that had been detained by the authorities and abducting two armed police personnel before abandoning them in neighbouring Jharkhand.
The matter came to light after junior mining officer Bhawani Shankar Patra lodged a complaint at Jharpokharia police station. Police registered a case and launched an investigation.
According to the complaint, a joint team of the mining department squad and the Baripada Armed Police Reserve (APR) force conducted a raid near the Kuanrdihi football ground under Saraskana tehsil at around 11:50 pm October 26.
The team found an excavator being used to load sand illegally onto three Hyva trucks and detained the vehicles. During the operation, a man identified as Satyanarayan Das arrived at the spot with several others and allegedly instructed the operator of the excavator to flee. The operator drove the machine towards the Jharkhand border.
The mining officer alleged in the complaint that while pursuing the excavator, its operator attempted to ram the government vehicle. Later, the owners of the Hyva trucks arrived at the spot with more people and argued with mining department officials and the APR police personnel. They allegedly abused and assaulted the officials and police personnel.
While two armed police personnel were escorting the seized Hyva trucks to Jharpokharia police station, the owners allegedly instructed the drivers to take the vehicles towards Jharkhand instead. The drivers then drove in that direction with the police personnel on board.
As mining officials chased the trucks, a car was allegedly parked across the road to block the government vehicle. The complaint read that the sand smugglers later surrounded the raid team near a petrol pump close to Bela village and forcibly took away all three seized Hyva trucks. The incident has raised questions as it reportedly occurred despite the presence of local police at the raid site.
The mining officials lodged a written complaint at Jharpokharia police station October 27. Based on the complaint, police registered a case and assigned an assistant sub-inspector to investigate the matter.
The mining officials have demanded legal action against those involved in illegal trans portation of minerals, obstructing government work, assaulting and harassing officials, and forcibly taking away the seized vehicles.
