Officials at the site where AAP MLA was attacked, near Beinhara village. (Express photo by Jasbir Malhi)
The sand mine in Ropar’s Harsa Bela village, where AAP’s Ropar MLA Amarjit Singh Sandoa was attacked Thursday, was among 42 mines allotted under reverse bidding policy by the SAD-BJP government.
The Supreme Court, in its May 10 verdict, had ordered closure of such mines that were allotted under reverse bidding policy. However, it was yet not clear how, despite the SC order, the mine in question was still functional.
After the incident of attack on Sandoa, Punjab’s secretary (mining) Jaspal Singh on Friday sought a report from the Ropar district mining officer to find out how the Harsa Bela mine was still functional. Jaspal sought a report from the officers on ground after Anandpur Sahib SDM Rakesh Garg submitted a report to his seniors saying that the “mine is legal”.
After a day-long confusion, Department of Sand Mining officials discovered that a case pertaining to Harsa Bela mine was pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Next date of hearing in this case is on July 13.
It was also found that the mine in question was actually allotted to Surinder Pal Singh. Mining department is now also finding out more details about Surinder Pal Singh and how Ajwinder was doing mining at the site.
Kumar Rahul, director (sand mining), told The Indian Express, “The mine was functional as the government was waiting for next hearing of the case on July 13 before ordering its closure.”
“But ultimately, the government will have to follow Supreme Court orders that had upheld state government’s decision of closing all mines allotted under reverse bidding policy. We shall wait for the High Court’s order in this case of Harsa Bela mine,” he said.
Sandoa had claimed yesterday that he went to Harsa Bela to stop illegal mining. However, SDM Rakesh Garg’s today’s report contradicted Sandoa’s claims. The SDM’s report mentioned that fresh mining had taken place at Harsa Bela mine, which is a “legal site.” The report adds that the Beinhara village site, which is located adjacent to Harsa Bela, was already closed after Supreme Court’s May 10 order.
Garg’s report also stated that due to the water collected in the mined area, they were not able to ascertain the depth and find out if the area was mined illegally beyond permissible limit.
After both SAD and AAP demanded a thorough probe into the incident, the Punjab Congress too today demanded that a probe should also be conducted into the dealings of Sandoa because during the alleged attack on him yesterday, the accused could be heard accusing Sandoa of demanding “more money” from them.