An additional tehsildar sustained injuries after allegedly being attacked by a group of sand smugglers in Bhograi of Balasore district on Tuesday.
The official, Santosh Panigrahy had visited some villages which were waterlogged due to flash flood in Subarnarekha river. Oh his way, he stopped a truck transporting sand and upon interrogation he found that it was ferrying the minerals illegally at Ulunda chhak on Bograip-Balipal road.
“We were on the way to a village affected by flash flood. We found a truck transporting sand. The staff of the vehicle couldn’t show valid document regarding transportation. We immediately called the owner of the truck, who came with around 10-15 people and attacked me,” Panigrahy said.
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The attacker has been identified as Jitu, a resident of Baliapal. He was allegedly involved in sand smuggling from local Subarnarekha river.
The additional tehsildar was later rescued by the villagers from the clutches of the sand Mafia. The driver and helper of the truck have been detained by police.
On the other hand, the assailants fled the spot soon after attacking the official. All of them belong to Baliapal area in the district, reports said.
Illegal sand lifting in various parts of Balasore has become rampant for last few years. Administrative officials very often face the fury of the smugglers on several occasions.
Four months ago, a Revenue Inspector (RI) had sustained critical injuries after sand mafia had allegedly tried to crush him under the wheel of the sand-laden vehicle in Jaleswar of the same district.
A journalist also had to face the wrath of the smugglers while he was covering the news on illegal activities in the same block of the district.