An Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was allegedly attacked by sand mafia when he sought to check papers of a sand-laden truck in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday.
The incident took place when Balasore Sub-Collector Kunal Motiram Chavan, a 2020-batch IAS officer, was returning to the district headquarter town of Balasore. Mr. Chavan was sent to assess the value of seized trucks, tractors and earth mover machines which were used for illegal sand mining in Mandarpur and Dahapada areas, officials said.
On his way back, as he stopped a sand-laden truck, the enraged operators of the truck allegedly started attacking the officer and his driver on Fuladi bridge, on the outskirts of Balasore. The official vehicle was also damaged. Mr. Chouhan suffered injuries to his head and he was taken to district headquarter hospital for treatment.
Sand mining is a very lucrative trade in the State. Officials even face threat to their lives when they set out to stop illegal mining by sand mafia. In the past, the National Green Tribunal had expressed concerns over illegal sand mining and imposed fine on operators in Balasore and neighbouring Mayurbhanj district.
In one of the cases pertaining to sand mining in Odisha, the NGT had suggested that law enforcement agencies should consider booking offenders under stringent sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
