Gwalior, March 8: An IPS officer Narendra Kumar was today brutally crushed to death under the wheels of a tractor belonging to the local mining mafia, after he tried to stop it in a bid to check illegal sone quarrying in Morena.
Narendra Kumar, the sub-divisional police officer of Bamore, stopped the tractor driven by one Manoj Gujjar for checking. The latter crushed the IPS officer under its wheels, tried to flee, but was overpowered and arrested.
Narendra Kumar belonged to the 2009 IPS batch. His body has been brought to Gwalior and later sent to his home village near Mathura.
Illegal stone crusher mining is rampant in the badlands of Morena and Bhind, the safe sanctuaries of bandits in the region.
The incident took place near Banmore village, a few km away from Bamore. Narendra Kumar had joined as SDPO only last month and had launched a drive against illegal stone quarry mining.
On Thursday, Narendra Kumar intercepted the tractor trolley carrying stones and instructed the driver to come with him to the police station. Near Bamore, the tractor driver Manoj Gujjar tried to flee. He rammed his tractor into Narendra Kumar's police Gypsy and took the tractor down a dirt track.
Narendra Kumar had his gunner and driver with him, but the IPS officer himself whipped out his revolver and stood in front of the tractor.
On seeing this, the tractor driver shouted “Mar jaoonga ya maar daloonga, par tractor nahin rokoonga (I will rather die or kill, but will not stop the tractor).”
When Narendra Kumar tried to board the driver's seat, but putting his leg on the tractor wheel, the driver started the tractor and the wheels crushed the IPS officer, critically injuring him.
He was rushed to Gwalior, but he died on the way. This is not the first time the mining mafia has attacked senior officers in Morena district. In 2007, the mafia goons attacked the district collector Akash Tripathi and SP Hari Singh Yadav but the two officers survived the attack.
Narendra Kumar's wife Madhurani, an IAS officer, is posted in Gwalior and is reportedly pregnant.
State Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta went to Morena for an on-the-spot check. Gupta vowed to take stern action against the killer and the conspirators.
Opposition Congress leader Manak Agrawal alleged that illegal mining was rampant throughout Madhya Pradesh under BJP rule, similar to Karnataka.
Agrawal alleged that the local ruling party politicians were in hand in gloves with the illegal mining mafia contractors.
The Congress had earlier alleged that there was large-scale illegal mining in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan's hometown and assembly constituency Budhni.
The illegal sand mining, being carried out on the banks of Narmada River, was harming the environment and causing a massive loss to the state exchequer.
“A fact finding team comprising five of our MLAs has confirmed illegal mining worth well over Rs.200 crore in Budhni, primarily in the Nasrullahganj area,” leader of opposition Ajay Singh had alleged several months back.
The Congress has recently been leading a campaign against rampant illegal mining in Madhya Pradesh. It also moved a no-confidence motion-illegal mining being its chief component-against the ruling BJP government during the winter session of the Vidhan Sabha.
The father of the IPS officer alleged that there was a well-planned conspiracy against his son who did not receive the cooperation of the local police.
“It is clear that this was a well-planned conspiracy. He did not receive cooperation of the local police. He stopped vehicles carrying stones for check. Is it the work of the IPS officer, or the work of a thana-level police?” said Keshav Dev, father of Narendra Kumar Singh, the 30-year-old IPS officer, who was crushed under the wheels of a tractor trolley driven by an alleged member of the mining mafia in Morena.
