A government official in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district on Sunday escaped an alleged attempt by members of the sand mining mafia to mow him down for the second time in two months, The Times of India reported. The police have arrested two people and are looking for the ones who fled.
Dipendra Yadav, the sub-divisional magistrate of Gunnaur, was trying to stop illegal mining operations near a tributary of the Ganga when the incident took place. Sand-laden tractor trolleys allegedly tried to run him over but he jumped into a nearby ditch and escaped. He then informed the police.
The administration had checked the illegal sand mining from the riverbeds of the Ganga earlier, but the mafia had now turned to the Mahava tributary, where they came after midnight, Yadav said. His team was present to nab them around 3 am on Sunday.
“Today, we took position by placing two cars – one at a petrol pump and another at the opposite direction – on NH-93 near Harfari around 3 am,” Yadav told The Times of India. “After an hour, three tractor trolleys emerged on the highway...When we tried to stop them, they accelerated towards us to hit us.”
Yadav said his team does not inform the police about their plans to catch such activities, as they fear that information can be leaked. “The people involved in the trade have developed a counter intelligence system in our department,” he said. “They manage to flee every time before we even reach the spot.”
On April 9, the driver of an illegal sand-laden truck had allegedly tried to mow down Yadav.
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