JAMMU: With political slugfest hogging the primetime slots on the national television as per chronic routine, chilling news from Haryana’s Gurugram area sent shock waves across the country. Tauru Dy SP Surender Singh was crushed to death by the illegal mining mafia which mowed him down near Nuh’s, close to the upcoming IT city of Gurugram. As if it was not enough a premier channel reported yet another shocking story this evening about a dumper at Palai Toll Plaza in Uniara of Tonk district of Rajasthan breaking the barrier at high speed, razing the plaza into pieces. Interestingly, the incident was not reported by the Plaza operators and nobody could say why the police were chasing the dumper.
While no words are enough to condemn the barbaric and tragic mowing down of a police officer by the mining mafia despite being escorted by a five-member team of uniformed personnel, the question arises how the hardcore criminals dared to go this far. The answer is not beyond the imagination of even a common man, who knows the amount of patronage being enjoyed by criminals, gangsters and unscrupulous elements engaged in various vocations and economic offences. They feel themselves above law-in fact law unto themselves. Had it not been so, how could the mining smugglers have committed the cold blooded murder in presence of the police personnel? Another question that worries the law abiding citizens of this country remains how the armed policemen preferred to remain mute spectators to watch their officer being brutally mowed down.
The arrogance of the mineral mining mafia is the same across the country. Those engaged in this illegal pursuit seem to be enjoying huge clout because of the administrative inertia or the administrative connivance. In Jammu, for example, the minor mineral mafia has gained strong roots which is impossible to be uprooted in the foreseeable future-the reason being active nexus between the smugglers and black sheep in the administration and the law enforcing agencies because a lot of money is pouring in from this sector. Of course, the police are on the job to contain this menace but one cannot oversee the prevalent culture of complacence and nexus of some black sheep. True that some brave-hearts keep challenging the mafia, like the Dy SP in Gurugram did, but one sparrow does not make it a summer. Ultimately it is the police that have to brave the brunt.
Last year, the mining regulations stirred a nexus between unscrupulous smugglers and those in the administration thus breaking the backbone of all those investing in raising their dream houses in this part of the country. The people were making their nests with the construction material like sand, stones and bajri available at affordable prices but the new regulations left them at the mercy of looters in the form of black-sheep in the administration and the police hierarchy with active connivance of the mining smugglers. Ironically some cops used to seek posting in cities earlier but then they wanted to be placed in the mining rich areas. Astonishingly, many tippers of the Kashmir valley and Punjab were also operating in Jammu. For what they used to be here in Jammu is a million dollar question. The reason is obvious which speaks volumes about the large scale nexus and vested interest. Reports do come about seizure of trucks, tippers or dumpers being seized with illegal minor minerals like sand, bajri and stones but the number of these making it to their destinations in dead of the night on whopping prices is far far higher.
According to sources, hardly any fines are imposed on the defaulting load carriers or challans produced in courts. Majority of the tippers and trucks are operating without valid permissions from the designated authorities and No Objection Certificates from the Pollution Control Board. Above all, the major players supervising the illegal mafia are from outside Jammu and Kashmir. Nobody seems to be interested in treating the malady. And the results of complacency are obvious like how DSP Surender Singh lost his life.
(To be continued)