Illegal sand mining: Tractor driver held for killing MP forest officer

A 35-year-old man was arrested early on Saturday for allegedly running over and killing a Forest Department officer with a sand-laden tractor-trolley, police said.

Police managed to zero in on accused Devendra Gurjar after scouring the CCTV footage of the area, officials said.

Gurjar even opened fired at the police in an attempt to escape when they reached Dhanala village near here to nab him. He was eventually chased down and overpowered, Morena Superintendent of Police Amit Sanghi said.

Subedar Singh Kushwaha (50), a deputy forest ranger, stationed at a check post on National Highway 3 to curb illegal excavation of sand from the Chambal riverbed, was killed at around 8 am on Friday while inspecting vehicles coming from the riverside.

Kushwaha was trying to intercept a tractor-trolley laden with illegally mined sand when another one intentionally mowed him down from behind, police had said on Friday, adding that both vehicles fled the scene.

On Saturday, Sanghi said, "We impounded the tractor-trolley laden with sand. Gurjar has been charged with murder and other sections of the IPC." Officials said sand mafia is active in the region and illegal mining on the Chambal riverbed was threatening the endangered gharial population there.

It was damaging eggs laid in the sand by these gharials, a fish-eating species of the crocodile family, they added.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, in the past, had directed the authorities to curb illegal sand mining.

SP Sanghi said the Chambal riverbed was under the jurisdiction of the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary.