Sand mafia tries to mow down SDPO, team in Gumla; FIR registered against 17

A sand mafia's Hyva truck tried to run over Deputy SP leaving SDPO and fellow policemen severely injured. The driver of the truck fled leaving the vehicle. The police registered an FIR against 17 people and are probing into the incident.

Gumla (Jharkhand): Late on Sunday, Gumla SDPO Manish Chandra Lal's car was hit by the sand mafia with a dumper when he went to curb illegal transport of sand. Several police personnel, including DSP, his driver, and his bodyguard were injured. The morale of sand smugglers is increasing in the district though the district administration is taking measures to curb illegal sand mining. But the efforts are unsuccessful as the smugglers are not afraid of attacking the police.

According to police, Gumla SDPO Manish Chandra Lal, along with his team, reached near Murgu of the Sisai police station area on the instructions of the District Mining Officer late on Sunday night to seize illegal sand storage. The SDPO signalled the sand-laden Hyva to stop. But instead of stopping the Hyva, the driver tried to run over the SDPO as a result, SDPO and police personnel were injured and the vehicle was also damaged. The driver of the Hyva managed to escape while the injured police force was rushed to a hospital.

Basia Circle Police Inspector Shyamanand Mandal said that a team led by DMO (District Mining Officer) Ramnath Rai, Dy SP Manish Chandra Lal and station in-charge Aditya Kumar Chaudhary went to raid people involved in illegal sand mining. Circle Inspector Shyamanand Mandal said Hyva's driver fled the spot by leaving the vehicle.

Simultaneously, when the police tried to stop a car following Hyva, two people from the car started running away from the police. The police chased and caught one of them, who is identified as Wasim Mir, a resident of Murgu. During the interrogation, Wasim named his absconding partner as Sohail Khan, a resident of Bargitand Raidih.

Mandal said that information has been received about the involvement of Manish Kumar Singh, Saroj Singh and Rajesh Kumar Chaudhary, residents of Murgu, Kartik Oraon, a resident of Charku Ambatoli and Bhupesh Dev, a resident of Lal Pandariya. The police are probing into the case.