Ludhiana | Day after police action against illegal mining, tipper association stages protest
The tipper association members alleged that the raid was illegal, claiming that the said area came under the jurisdiction of Ludhiana rural police. “Moreover, no mining was going on at the spot,” they said, adding that the police had seized empty tippers.
A day after four men were arrested for alleged illegal mining on the Sutlej riverbed near Ladhowal, the tippers’ association staged a protest outside Ladhowal police station, demanding cancellation of the FIR.
The members of the association alleged that the raid was illegal, claiming that the said area came under the jurisdiction of Ludhiana rural police. “Moreover, no mining was going on at the spot,” they said, adding that the police had seized empty tippers.
The members met commissioner of police Kaustubh Sharma and sought cancellation of the FIR. According to the members, Sharma had assured them of cancelling the FIR after consulting with the mining department.
The members reached the police station at 2 pm on Sunday, hoping that the police would have initiated a process to cancel the FIR, which was not the case, following which they staged a protest, raising slogans against the police, that continued till 4 pm.
Ravinder Singh, chairperson of the association, said they used to discontinue mining during the rainy season. “The contractors keep the sand at designated dump sites which they use to extract before the arrival of the rainy season. The Ludhiana police conducted a raid at a designated dump site in Razapur village on Saturday, which falls under the jurisdiction of Jalandhar police, and arrested four men. Moreover, the police took action when the mining process was not on,” he said.
He added that the police recovered three empty tippers and four poclain machines that were parked there.
Ravinder alleged that the police added Sections 420 (cheating) and 379 (theft) in the FIR, when they did not find sand loaded in the tippers.
“We have given time to the police till 10 am of Monday for the cancellation of the FIR. If they do not initiate the cancellation process, we will stage a protest at the office of commissioner of police,” he said.
Inspector Jasbir Singh, station house officer at Ladhowal police station, said they were looking into the matter and would take appropriate action after investigation.