Sand mafia destroyed peace, natural beauty

“Sand mafia has destroyed the peace in the area. This place had its own natural beauty. People used to enjoy that, now no one dares to sit here. Violence has taken over,” said a local student, who did not wish to be named.

As per local sources, the sand from the river in Labhpur is “excellent” in terms of quality and demand. They claim the sand is transported to places like Rajarhat New Town, Murshidabad, Asansol and Durgapur. The sand mafia, reportedly, earned at least Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh a month.

“Police don’t act against them (mafia) because they are mostly managed by politically powerful people,” said another resident, adding there were a number of such groups on the banks of Mayurakshi and Ajoy. The groups involved in the incident earlier this week were allegedly led by workers of TMC – Shoeib Ali (46) from Darbarpur village and Abdul Ahad (in his forties) from Mirbandh village.

Ali and Ahad owned bungalows that were in stark contrast to mud houses around them. The Sunday Express attempted to contact Ali on Saturday. His official source of income came from agriculture. Over the years, locals said Ali allegedly became the main challenger to Ahad’s alleged control of the sand mafia in the region.

Ali’s family initially refused to speak to the media. Later, however, peeping through a window, his daughter Margina Khatoon said, “My brother is already in jail following a conspiracy by Abdul Ahad. I don’t know where my father is. He wasn’t there when the incident took place. He is a Trinamool activist and his growing popularity has not gone well with Abdul Ahad and his people who are associated with illegal mining. They earn lakhs of rupees through lifting sand.” She denied that her father was involved in illegal sand mining.

Ahad’s new new house is already a landmark, and the locals call it “AC Bari (Air conditioned house)” based on it likely to be the first in the vicinity with centralised air-condition.

Ahad has not been seen since Friday’s incident. His wife Tajpura rubbished allegations of “illegal” sand mining against him. Instead, she says he is involved in “legal” sand mining.

“My husband, a local Trinamool member, has been in this business for 12 years and controls three sand mines. Recently government cracked down on illegal sand mining.

A certificate from irrigation department has been made mandatory. He has all required documents. However, the gang from Darbarpur under Shoeib Ali has been threatening us. He doesn’t want to share the business. He and his people want to bring all my husband’s sand mines under their control. They had also attacked my 10-year-old son, after which I sent him to Kolkata, to my relative’s place,” she said.

According to police sources, the force has been involved in stopping illegal sand mining after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spoke out against it recently. However, locals are not convinced. They claim the trucks loaded with sand stopped plying only after Friday’s blast brought the police.

“How can such activities be stopped when the people running the mafia brush their shoulders with leaders of the ruling party?” a resident said.