Mining mafia a gang of ex-bootleggers, criminals

TNN | Updated: Jun 16, 2019, 7:56 IST

Accused Giriraj Yadav in custody

JAIPUR: A new cartel is fast taking roots in Rajasthan in the form of a formidable nexus between mining mafia and local history-sheeters.

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After a brief lull, Rajasthan is once again slipping into the grip of ‘mafia raj’, the likes of which are usually seen in Bollywood movies. The state’s mining mafia, especially the one ruling the illegal ‘bajri’ trade, has become so brazen that even top police officials are publicly expressing their helplessness in checking it. After mowing down a senior citizen recently who opposed the mafia’s activities, they have now attacked government officers in Jaipur. What’s more worrying is the utter lack of commitment shown by the state’s top leadership in curbing the menace and establishing the rule of law.

Sources in Rajasthan police told TOI that over 1,000 criminals, mostly in their early 20s — which include history-sheeters, village strongmen or local louts — have joined the bajri smuggling syndicate for quick money. On Saturday morning, when a RTO team in Jagatpura was attacked by about eight to ten m afia men, the unidentified accused were found to be mostly between the age group of 20 to 25 years. According to sources, criminals have found a new recourse in bajri smuggling after running out of luck and profits, in a cut-throat trade of illegal liquor smuggling.
“Many of these criminals were earlier involved in illegal liquor smuggling cases, transporting consignments from Haryana where liquor is cheap, to Gujarat where it is prohibited. They already knew the tricks of the smuggling trade and therefore, when demand for bajri shot up in the state, they immediately jumped ships,” an official told TOI.
Both liquor and bajri smuggling share same modus operandi that include private cars escorting dumper trucks, informers at highway eateries and tea shacks relaying information on the movements of flying squads and highway patrols.
“The police special branches (SBs) and Criminal Intelligence Units (CIUs) posted in multiples cities over the past few years, had managed to penetrate deep into the liquor dens operating across the state. Therefore, the risk of defectors and gang rivalry posed a big worry for syndicate’s underlings. The minions then decided to turn to bajri mafia where gang rivalry is minimum, the trade is decentralised and moreover, the risk of arrest in stringent sections is low, while profits are quick,” the official added.
A highly placed source involved in probing the death of Kishore Singh (60) who was mowed down by mining mafia in Kardhani on Wednesday for opposing illegal transportation, such is the lure of easy money that people from varied backgrounds including milkmen and truck drivers have joined the illegal trade.

“The main accused currently on the run in Singh’s death case is a former milkman who used to supply sand, but decided to transport bajri to reap windfalls,” said the official, adding that many former genuine bajri truck drivers have more or less lost their livelihoods and replaced by goons.
Additional DGP (Crime) BL Soni said that mafia is not a right term to assign to bajri mining. “There are many villages located alongside rivers where people are extricating bajri. Anyone with means in these belts is involved in the trade,” he said.