S-I mowed down by tractor carrying illegally mined sand in Bihar
While the police were still looking for the tractor driver, two of his accomplices were arrested later in the day.
3 min read
As Ranjan tried to stop the sand-laden tractor, it sped up mowing him down (Express File Photo) A POLICE sub-inspector was mowed down by a tractor transporting illegally mined sand during a raid in Jamui district of Bihar Tuesday morning. A home guard who was part of the raiding team was injured in the incident, police said.
While the police were still looking for the tractor driver, two of his accomplices were arrested later in the day.
The incident took place around 7.30 am at a village under Garhi police station along the Jamui border with Jharkhand’s Giridih.
Following a tip-off about a sand-laden tractor, a police team led by sub-inspector Prabhat Ranjan (28) reached the village to seize it. Police sources said after spotting the tractor, Ranjan and home guard Rajesh Kumar Sah chased it on a motorcycle and after some distance overtook it.
“When S-I Ranjan and home guard Rajesh Kumar Sah tried to intercept the tractor, its driver Krishna Ravidas ran the vehicle over them. While the S-I died during treatment at the Sadar Hospital in Jamui, the injured home guard is undergoing treatment,” said Jamui Superintendent of Police Saurya Suman, adding that crackdown on the illegal sand mafia would continue.
Hours later, the police arrested Mithilesh Thakur and Pankaj Ravidas, two accomplices of the absconding tractor driver Krishna. According to the police, all three belonged to adjoining Nawada district. They were involved in several cases of illegal sand mining in Nawada, Jamui and Giridih districts, they said.
A 2018 batch sub-inspector, Ranjan, who hailed from Bhagwan Khajuri village in Vaishali, was posted at Garhi police station seven months ago and made the additional police station in-charge. He has a four-year-old daughter and an infant son.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said: “We have taken due note of the incident and are seeking its full details.”
Education Minister Chandrashekhar, known for his controversial remarks, said: “Is it a new incident? Such things have happened in Madhya Pradesh and some other states as well. The culprits will be brought to book.”
According to a National Green Tribunal order, sand mining was banned in Bihar rivers for three months till September 30. The ban was later extended till October 15 because of the changing pattern of rainfall this year.
A mines and geology department official said: “As riverbeds have shrunk due to illegal mining, we started a crackdown to stop sand mining even after the NGT ban period. The police have been assisting us.”
This is the second incident of attack on government officers involved in the crackdown on illegal sand miners. In April, three mining officers were injured during a raid when sand miners pelted them with stones in Bihta near Patna.
You May Like
