Despite ban, illegal miners using explosives in Mahendragarh

Ravinder Saini

Mahendragarh, January 30

Despite a ban on their use, detonators are being used for illegal mining of stones in Nizampur area of the district.

Detonators seized

• Detonators, safety fuses, wires and other equipment seized at Dholera village
• Holes had been dug and wires laid in a hillock located 1 km away from the village
• Two perpetrators identified and raids underway to arrest them

The information came to light following a raid conducted by a joint team of the Department of Mines and the Haryana Police at Dholera village on Sunday. Equipment used for blasting, including detonators, safety fuses and wires, was recovered from the spot, said a mining official.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the perpetrators belonged to a nearby village and had conducted illegal mining using detonators in a hilly portion of the village in the past too, the official said. The miners had dug holes at five points to trigger blasts, he said, adding they could not trigger the blasts after probably being tipped off about the raid.

Mining Inspector Tanu Joshi said explosives were earlier seized at nearby Ghatasher village a year and a half ago. “During an investigation, illegal mining was found to have been conducted in a considerable used to carry out illegal mining clandestinely at night. “They had also created makeshift paths to reach the points where the blasting was done. As the hill is located over 1 km away from the village, the residents could not hear the sound of the blasts,” he said.

Devender said the perpetrators had probably established an information network, which helped them flee the spot before raids were conducted, something that happened on Sunday too.

Nizampur police station SHO Dharambir said two of the perpetrators had been identified and raids were being conducted at their possible hideouts to arrest them.