My wife and children dont stay with me as its not safe. When I step out,Im followed

He had gone to Tankaur Road with two armed cops,a driver and his peon after he received a tip-off that trolleys laden with illegally mined sand would pass through the area.

On Tankaur Road,I saw about 14 tractors with trolleys filled with mud. As soon as I reached there,they tried to flee and I gave them a chase. I tried to stop a tractor and the driver jammed his vehicle into mine, Kumar says.

He did not give up the chase,however and the tractor he was following jammed into his jeep six times. Near Nizampur Village,the tractor driver slowed down,jumped out of the vehicle and fled into the fields.

We tried to chase him,but then he turned around and fired at us. By that time villagers,including women and children had formed a group and I fired a round in the air. The tractor driver retaliated by firing in the air himself, one of the cops accompanying Kumar says. The driver managed to flee and the SDM returned to office with the tractor.

Policemen at the Sikanderabad police station analysed the Balu or mud samples and concluded that it was mined from the Yamuna bank. The SDM,who is the highest authority in Sikanderabad,however,had to wait the whole day and make several phone calls before the FIR was finally registered.

Police officials at Sikanderabad said that they registered a case under Sections 307 (attempted murder),353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) IPC and relevant sections under the Mines and Minerals Act and Criminal Act.

Kumar says that the sand mafia had a very strong foothold in the area. Unchallenged in the area before this,SDM Kumar claims that in the five months he has been posted here,he has managed to register 15 FIRs against them and conducted several raids in and around his area to stop the illegal mining activity. He is quick to point out the thriving network supporting the mafia.

There are some very powerful people behind this mafia and they have a very well-established network. I had my previous driver (Lalit Kumar) transferred from here about a month ago after I found out that he was supplying information to them about my raids. I dismissed a senior Tehsil office staff (Pramohan Yadav) before that. The mafia,which makes lakhs in a single night,has some very good informants, he says.

Singh reveals that illegal mining happens at night,with the aid of villagers and some government officials. The sand is then transported into cities in the state or to the National Capital Region.

My wife and children do not stay with me in my government allotted residence in Sikanderabad as it is not safe. When I step out at night to conduct raids or even for some personal work,I am followed. But that is all a part of life, he says.