An inspector of the mines department and five home guard jawans were seriously injured allegedly after being attacked by a gang of sand mafias during a joint raid in Bihar's Kishanganj district, police said on December 9.
Following the incident, a case has been registered against 21 people involved in the attack and attempts are being made to arrest them, they said.
According to police, the incident took place at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday when a joint team of the mines department and home guard jawans reached the site after receiving a complaint about the illegal lifting of sand. Following the information, a team of mining department officials from Kishanganj rushed to the spot.
Seeing the team arriving, the sand mafias fled from the spot, leaving behind their tractor trolley. However, the suspects returned and attacked the team with sticks and pelted stones. The attackers escaped from the scene by the time the local police reached the spot and the injured officials were taken to the Kishanganj district hospital for treatment, the police said.
Those injured in the attack have been identified as Shambhu Paswan, Md Nasahad, Md Ismail, Bipin Kumar Yadav, Yogendra Prasad Singh (home guards), and the mining inspector, Umashankar Singh.
The police also seized a sand-laden vehicle without a proper registration number and a motorcycle.
Based on a written complaint lodged by the mining officer, the police filed an FIR against 21 people. The accused have been identified as Manirul Haq, Badal, Azizul, Sukha Ali, Enamul Haq, Saidur, Qasim, Qadir, Rizaul, Sufiyan, Arzaul, Gulab, Nutful, Manjar, Matirjar, Izaul, Manrul, Bablu, Jahul Alam, Kaushar and Azizul.
According to FIR, the accused used to take out sand illegally from Chamrani Balughat of Mahananda river and stock it in Matia Bhitha village. Majbool Rahman, a resident of Naya Chowk Ganjabari village, maintained the stock of sand and would sell it in the market at a higher price, police said.
