Ropar, November 11
The Ropar police have arrested mining contractor Rakesh Chaudhary here today. The police said Rakesh was apprehended from near Maharaja Ranjit Singh Bagh in Ropar. Many documents have also been taken in possession by the police from the office of Chaudhary.
Soon after his arrest, Mining Minister Harjot Singh Bains tweeted: "Biggest ever crackdown on illegal mining mafia. In a major crackdown on illegal mining mafia, the Ropar police have arrested kingpin of illegal mining Rakesh Chaudhary on the complaint of the Mining Department. #InquilaabZindabaad."
Chaudhary was given mining lease rights in block No. 1 of Ropar district and block No. 7 of Mohali, Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib districts in July 2019, which were to expire on March 18 and January 31 next year, respectively. Later, the government allotted few sites in Swan as well as Sutlej to Chaudhary for desilting.
According to the FIR, Chaudhary was allotted a desilting site at Sansowal village on July 5, 2021. The Mining Department in its complaint had alleged that a differential global positioning system (DGPS) survey was conducted on the site and it was found that over 2 lakh metric tonne of material was excavated illegally.
After Chaudhary got mining contracts in these areas, a large number of complaints regarding illegal mining as well as 'gunda tax' started pouring in. Though the police booked several persons, including tipper drivers, machine operators and stone crusher owners, the cases of illegal mining were registered against Chaudhary only after code of conduct was imposed in state on January 8 with the declaration of polling date for the Assembly poll.
On January 28, the Nangal police had booked him for illegal mining in Swan riverbed and later on May 28, the Mining Department SDO lodged a complaint with the Kiratpur Sahib police alleging that the contractor had set up faulty weighing bridges that did not weigh tippers loaded with mining material accurately.
Ropar SSP Sandeep Garg said a case under Section 21 (1), 4 (1) of the Mining Act and 379 of the IPC was registered against the contractor and the district police arrested him today.
Govt suffered Rs 5.5-cr loss
- Mining Department officials said the govt price of sand is Rs 9.45 and accordingly, the govt suffered a loss of Rs 5.5 crore due to illegal lifting from Sansowal
- Before entering into the mining business in Punjab, Rakesh Chaudhary was known as a road construction contractor in J-K
- A CBI team had conducted raids at his offices in March last year for alleged violation of terms and conditions for getting a road project in J-K
Economics of mining
- Mining generates direct or indirect employment for thousands in Ropar district
- Some are hired as machine operators and drivers, while others as labourers for crushing stones
- Hundreds of others have built automobile repair shops and 'dhabas' outside stone crusher units
- Landowners have been earning crores of rupees by selling off their land situated on the riverbed
- One acre of land in Agampur area is bought for up to Rs 32 lakh by the mining mafia
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/LyDt64K
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