Forest guard, 33, crushed to death by illegal sand minersin Chambal region

Bhopal:A forest guard was crushed to death under the wheels of a tractor-trolley ferrying illegally mined sand when he tried to stop it during a patrol in Morena district on Wednesday morning, in the same Chambal sanctuary region where IPS officer Narendra Kumar was similarly run over by a tractor inBanmorein March 2012.The latest incident took place around 6 am nearRanpurvillage crossing. According to police, a six-member forest department team from the Ambah rangehad leftfor routine patrolling around 5.30 am in an official vehicle.During the patrol, the team spotted a tractor-trolley loaded with sand approaching from the opposite direction. Whensignalledto stop, the driver, identified as Vinod Kori, allegedly tried to flee. As forest guard Harkesh Gurjar, 33, stepped forward to intercept the vehicle, he was run over and died on the spot. The driver fled with the vehicle.CCTV footage from a nearby petrol pump has captured images of the accused, police said.Senior officials, including collector Lokesh Kumar Jangid, SP Sameer Saurabh and DFO Harishchandra Baghel, visited the spot and spoke to eyewitnesses. Based on a complaint by range officer Veer Kumar Tirkey, police have registered a case of murder and named threeaccused--driverVinod Kori and tractor owners Sonu Chauhan and Pawan Tomar, who had jointlypurchasedthe vehicle.Gaurav Gurjar, the deceased's brother-in-law who claimed to be present during the patrol, alleged that the driver deliberately ran the tractor over Harkesh when the team tried to stop the vehicle.The incident led to protests at the post-mortem facility.Congress leader and former leader of opposition Govind Singh said the incident reflected the growing influence of the sand mafia in the Chambal region.Forest officers said departmentalassistanceto the family would beinitiatedand demands for a government job to the widow and martyr status for the guard would beforwardedto higher authorities.Harkesh Gurjar had recently been posted to the Ambah range after a transfer from another district. He is survived by his wife, a four-year-olddaughterand a two-year-old son.Collector Lokesh Kumar Jangid said raids were being conducted atpossible hideoutsof the accused and assured that they would be arrested soon.Officials said there has been a recurring pattern in the Chambal region of drivers running over enforcement personnel to avoid seizure of vehicles used in illegal sand mining. IPS officer Narendra Kumar had made a similar attempt to stop a tractor in 2012 when he was crushed under its wheels. With illegal sand mining reported from areas around the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, several government employees have been attacked ina similar mannerby the sand mafia over the past three decades.