Ropar: Registration of 13 stone crushers cancelled over illegal mining

Ropar, January 18

The Ropar mining department has cancelled registration of 13 stone crushers for alleged illegal mining in the area. The Ropar SSP had written a letter to the department on November 1, 2023, to cancel the registration of these units.

Earlier on September 4, 2023, in a major embarrassment to the Punjab Police, Justice N S Shekhawat, while hearing a similar case, had asserted that police apparently were hand in glove with persons carrying out illegal mining operations in Ropar.

The cancellation of the registration of 13 stone crushers was initiated by the mining department only after the then Ropar SSP Vivek Sheel Soni wrote in this regard. The SSP in his letter and stated that 13 stone crusher owners were found involved in illegal mining repeatedly so their registration needed to be cancelled and the units sealed. After 20 days of the SSP’s letter the mining department had suspended the registration of these stone crushers after issuing show-cause notices to them.

According to the letter, Ganga Stone Crusher at Khera Kalmot near Nangal had been found involved in illegal mining five times since March 2022 and FIRs had been registered in all these cases. Similarly, New Sutlej Stone Crusher unit-1 and Kalgidhar Stone Crusher had also been booked. Two FIRs had been registered against Garewal Stone Crusher, also at Khera Kalmot, in August and September. The owner of Bhalla Stone Crusher at Bhallari village near Nangal had been booked twice in September.

Others against whom the police have sought action are Puri Stone Crusher, AG Brar Stone Crusher, Sat Sahib Stone Crusher, Bharat Stone Crusher and Screening Plant, Prithivi Stone Crusher, Sai Stone Crusher, Adesh Stone Crusher and Siddhi Vinayak Stone Crusher.

Ropar SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana said that people had been asked to report any incident of illegal mining at the nearby police station or control room and appropriate acting would be taken against the suspects.