Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Apr 3: On April 2 last year, mining mafia had tried to murder two IAS officers of the district, deputy commissioner (DC) of the district, Priyanka Mary Francis, and the then Kundapur assistant commissioner (AC), Shilpa Nag. While the accused have secured bail in the case and are roaming free, the case is yet to come up for hearing in the court.
This attack had made headlines at the national level. The then deputy superintendent of police, S J Kumaraswamy, had investigated the case and prepared chargesheet. It is gathered that the district public prosecutor is scrutinizing the chargesheet presently, and it has not yet been submitted to the court.
Based on reliable information, both deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner along with Amparu village accountant, Kantaraju, had raided a sand den at Kandlur at night. The officers had found huge stock of sand mined with the help of workers from north India there. While workers ran away, leaving behind their boats used for sand mining, some people, under the cover of people living in the huts nearby, had turned violent and tried to eliminate the two lady officers.
The gang did not dither from their aggression even after the deputy commissioner introduced herself. Village accountant, Kantaraju, who was with the deputy commissioner, suffered serious injuries at the hands of the gang.
A case was registered in the town police station here against 50 persons. 26 were arrested including a juvenile delinquent. All the accused are out on bail. Five persons from Uttara Pradesh working here were ordered for externment.
It is said that sand mining continues unabated in non-CRZ zone in Kundapur area even now, and whenever raids are conducted, there is a brief lull in the activity. The fact that investigation into the said case is moving at an agonizingly slow pace, has encouraged others to get engaged with this activity.
Mines and geology department officer, Mahesh, said that over 40 complaints about illegal mining, most of them from Kundapur zone, have been received during the last one year, and illegal sand mining was detected in several places like Molahalli Amparu, Ulloor etc. District superintendent of police, Laxman Nimbargi, said that once the charge sheet is scrutinized, it will be submitted to JMFC court which will check the charge sheet and then allot case number.
Deputy Commissioner, Priyanka Mary Francis, says that she does not have much information about the current state of investigation of the case and that she was recently told by the superintendent of police that the chargesheet is being scrutinized.