MP forest dept team held hostage, assaulted by sand mafia

BHOPAL: A forest department team of Son Gharial sanctuary in MP’s Sidhi’s Sihawal area was allegedly held hostage for a few hours Wednesday night and assaulted by the sand mafia during a crackdown on illegal mining.

Acting on a tip-off, the team reached Khuteli ghat on Son river at around midnight, when illegal mining was underway.

Seeing the officials, some suspects fled, abandoning their tractors. However, a group of alleged sand mafia soon regrouped and returned to the site, surrounded the team, and held the staff hostage. The accused assaulted the forest officials and fled in their tractors at around 3am.

Sources said there were around seven members in the forest team, including three regular staff members and others hired on a daily wage basis.

It was around 3 am when the forest officials informed the police about the incident, following which a team from Bahri police station rushed to the spot, sources added.

Bahri police station incharge Rajesh Pandey told TOI , “A case has been registered on the complaint of the forest officials against three persons, two identified and one unidentified, under relevant sections, and detailed probe is being carried out. A hunt has been launched to arrest the accused, and we are hopeful of arresting them soon.”