Yavatmal: Umarkhed naib tehsildar Vaibhav Pawar and talathi Gajanan Surose were beaten up and stabbed by sand smugglers when they tried to stop vehicles transporting illegally excavated sand on Umarkhed-Dhanki road on Saturday night.
According to sources, one Avinash Chavan and his accomplices were transporting sand on Saturday night when both Pawar and Surose intercepted the vehicles. When the duo asked for papers related to the sand transportation, the men accompanying the vehicles assaulted both Pawar and Surose. The smugglers also stabbed the duo and fled.
Both the injured managed to inform their colleagues about the assault and they were rushed to Umarkhed hospital for first aid. Both Pawar and Surose were later shifted to Nanded hospital. Condition of both the injured is reported to be stable.
Taking note of the attack on revenue department employees, collector M Devendar Singh has instructed sub-divisional officer (SDO) and sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Pusad to take stringent action against sand smugglers.
The collector has also instructed police to arrest the main accused Chavan and his accomplices.
Earlier, revenue department employees, including naib tehsildars and talathis, had protested demanding police protection as well as issuing weapons for their protection.
A first information report (FIR) has been registered with Umarkhed police station. No arrests were made till filing the report.