Bhopal, March 12: Cracking down on the mining mafia behind a slew of attacks on police and civic officials, Madhya Pradesh police on Sunday arrested Kuber Singh, a former dacoit who is the lynchpin of the sand mafia, and Morena district's ex-BJP chief Hamir Singh Patel, who assaulted officials for impounding tractor-trolleys used in quarrying stone.
Kuber and his gang had fired on a team of civil and police officials on Friday when they tried to destroy a makeshift bridge on the Ken river in Panna used to transport sand illegally to UP. Interrogation is on to ascertain if the duo were linked to the killing of IPS officer Narendra Kumar last week.
A rattled state government has rushed 150 Special Armed Force (SAF) troops to take on the mafia in the Chambal division and hunt down other illegal miners.
Kuber Singh, a former dacoit whose gang members had fired at a team of civil and police officials, and who tried to destroy a temporary bridge over Ken river in Panna to transport illegally mined sand to UP, is being interrogated. IPS officer Narendra Kumar Singh was killed after being hit by a tractor trolley laden with stones on Holi.
Two companies of SAF armed with assault rifles and other sophisticated weaponry are in Morena and one more group is likely to reach the district shortly.
Patel was arrested for allegedly assaulting officers and forcibly taking away two tractor trolleys used for stone quarrying. He had hit mining inspector Rajkumar Barethe on January 31 when he, along with district mining officer Rakesh Kaneria, impounded two tractor-trolleys engaged in illegal mining.
Morena DSP Sanjay Kumar told TOI that each SAF company comprises 75 fighters, adding that they would be a part of task force comprising officials of district police, forest, and mining and revenue departments. Although the task force in Morena was formed some time ago, it was proving inefficient for want of policemen to check the illegal mining in Morena.
A team of investigators reached Morena on Sunday to study the stones in the impounded tractor trolley that killed the young IPS officer. Comprising three experts, took the stones and reached some mines to zero in on the quarry from which it had been excavated, a top mining official said.
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