Tehsildar attacked by sand mafias during crackdown in Kendrapara, FIR lodged

Sand mafias seem to be least bothered about the law and order in Odisha as they are indiscriminately lifting sand illegally from different riverbeds posing a great danger to the ecology. They are often attacking higher authorities during the raids.

Days after the shocking attack on Balasore Sub Collector, sand mafias assaulted tehsildar of Derabis in Kendrapara district during a raid at Gualsingh ghat.

Derabis Tehsildar Akshay Kumar Parida has filed an FIR at Kendrapara Sadar police station in this regard. 

Acting on a tip-off, Revenue Inspector of the area and Derabis tehsildar conducted a raid during the illegal lifting of sand and stopped the sand-laden truck on February 17. Irked over the development, the driver called three others. The miscreants then attacked the tehsildar and injured him in the process.

“After checking the documents, we came to know that the vehicle was not authorised from Mangalpur ghat to Mahakalpada. However, the vehicle owner was clearly flouting the rules. Date and time were also not mentioned in the documents. We asked the driver to stop the vehicle. However, the driver drove the vehicle towards the owner’s house,” said Parida.

“Then we called up the police. Irked by the development, the vehicle owner threatened us with dire consequences. Subsequently, he called some people and the miscreants tried to snatch documents from me. They also attacked me and I have been badly injured in the process,” he said.

Parida got treatment at Kendrapara hospital and then lodged a complaint at Kendrapara Sadar police station.

Further investigation into the incident is underway.