PATIALA: Two months after Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha raided alleged illegal mining sites at Jindapur village of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s Chamkaur Sahib constituency in Ropar district and then reported him to the governor, the district administration’s inquiry is unfinished.
Channi has represented this segment for 15 years now. The administration, however, claims it has given no clean chit yet to anyone in the status report filed with the additional director general of police who also looks after the enforcement directorate’s mining wing. In January, Chadha gave his memorandum to the governor, demanding an inquiry against Channi after the ED seized Rs 10 crore cash and Rs 21 lakh gold from the CM’s nephew. The governor assigned the inquiry to the DGP.
The district officials put on the case found evidence of and slip monitoring in the area. In November and December, the government recorded a daily average of 405 tipper trucks that hauled sand from the desilting site at Jindapur. Ropar deputy commissioner Sonali Giri said the investigation will cover all angles and the thing about clean chit was misinformation. She said: "It’s mentioned clearly in the status report that the inquiry isn’t finished. The forest officials said the forest boundary wasn’t demarcated with flagpoles but trees were replanted on almost 12 hectares."
She said: "The demarcation can only be done in the presence of both parties. The markings disappear when the water level rises. The site is close to the Satluj river. There is an approved desilting site at Jindapur, where the contractor has signed an agreement. The district has 10-odd approved de-silting sites and the tehsildar of Chamkaur Sahib has orders to demarcate the land and send a report."
Giri’s status report suggests that forest guard Rajwansh Singh was moved because he had sought a transfer on medical grounds, being a diabetic, and those transfer orders predate his report. On the role of CM’s relatives in the illegal mining business, the DC claimed there was no official complaint, so she would make no comments.
