IPS officer killing: BJP leader among 2 held for illegal mining

Panna/Morena (MP): Cracking the whip on mining mafia, the police arrested a person for firing at cops probing illegal sand mining, even as a Morena BJP leader was held for allegedly assaulting officers and forcibly taking away two tractor-trolleys engaged in stone quarrying. The arrests were made barely three days after a young IPS officer Narendra Kumar Singh was killed allegedly by the mining mafia in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. IBN-Live has also reported that  for now all sand mining activities in Chhatarpur district have been cancelled following the killing of IPS officer Narendra Kumar allegedly by the mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh. On Sunday, the police detained Kuber Singh - the main suspect in the incident. IPS Officer Kumar was crushed to death when he tried to stop a tractor loaded with illegally quarried stones in Morena on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_240596” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Screengrab from CNN-IBN video”]  [/caption] Panna Superintendent of Police Anil Maheshwari said a person, Kubar Singh, was arrested in connection with a case of firing on a police team, which had gone to Ajaygarh to probe illegal mining in the area by sand mafia. “The police, after taking control of the area, also removed the temporary bridge over River Ken erected by the mafia for transporting sand to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh,” he said. The sand mafia, engaged in illegal excavation, had yesterday opened fire at the team headed by Ajaygarh sub-divisional magistrate Nathuram Goud and sub-divisional police officer Jagannath Singh Markam in Chandipatha, about 70-80 km from Panna. The police also arrested BJP’s Morena district vice president Hamir Singh for allegedly assaulting a mining officer and forcibly taking away two tractor-trolleys engaged in quarrying of stones. The BJP leader had allegedly assaulted Mining Inspector Rajkumar Barethe on January 31 when he along with District Mining Officer Rakesh Kaneria seized two tractor-trolleys engaged in illegal mining. When the two officials were carrying the seized vehicles, they were intercepted by the BJP leader who later severely thrashed Barethe and forcibly took away the seized trolleys, police sources said. A meeting of senior police officials was also held in Morena today to review the situation. On Thursday, the 30-year-old IPS officer was mowed down under a tractor-trolley by an alleged member of the mining mafia when he tried to stop a vehicle carrying illegally quarried stones in Morena district. Police have also registered cases against four more persons in connection with firing on revenue and police officials near Ajaygarh town in Panna district. After arresting Kuber Singh from Sarvai police station area in Chhattarpur district on the border of Panna district, police booked Gambhir Singh and Ram Singh and two other unidentified persons, Additional SP Sunil Tiwari told reporters. PTI