The sand mafia allegedly fired and pelted policemen with stones when they stopped them from carrying illegally mined sand from Nandpura village in the district. The area is reserved for 'Gharial' (crocodile) conservation.
Acting on a tip-off, police reached Gudaghat near Nandpura village on Tuesday night to stop those indulging in mining sand from the Chambal river which is abode to the endangered crocodiles, Morena district Superintendent of Police (SP) Irshad Wali said on Wednesday.
However, the miners, along with the villagers, started firing at the policemen and also hurled stones at them to prevent them from moving forward. When the policemen also fired in retaliation, the miners escaped from the spot towards Nandpura village along with their sand-laden tractor-trolleys.
Police later reached the village in strength and seized the trolleys loaded with illegally mined sand, the SP said. A case of attempt to murder and rioting has been registered against 24 persons in this regard, but so far nobody has been arrested, Wali said.
Meanwhile, villagers claimed that police seized tractor-trolleys engaged in agriculture related work last night and that they also tried to stage a protest in front of a police station but retreated due to the presence of a heavy police force.
Following the incident, tension gripped Nandpura village, the SP said, adding, police was deployed in the area to maintain a vigil. In March last year, a young IPS officer, Narendra Kumar, was killed allegedly at the hands of illegal miners in the district when he tried stopping the vehicle carrying stones at Banmore town in neighbouring Morena district.
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