Sand mafias thrash Revenue Inspector, burn his mobile phone in Bolangir

A Revenue Inspector (RI) in Bolangir district was allegedly thrashed by sand mafias for opposing illegal lifting of sand. The incident happened at Salebhata area in the district on Thursday.

As per reports, Agalpur Tehsildar Sushree Saroja Behera got information from a reliable source about illegal sand lifting from a ghat in Anga river near Murasundha area. Subsequently, she ordered the RI of Babufasad area Sushant Patel to raid the ghat.

Patel along with his enforcement team raided the ghat on Thursday morning. They found the illegal lifting of sand and Patel started making videos of the incident.

However, the sand mafias lost their cool over the development. They allegedly snatched Patel’s mobile phone and set it on fire. They also allegedly thrashed Patel. One of the mafias allegedly bit Patel’s hand.

Patel was immediately rushed to nearby Dunguripali hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment.

Agalpur Tehsildar has lodged a complaint about the incident at Salbheta police station. 

Based on the complaint, an investigation into the incident has been launched. However, the sand mafias are reportedly on the run after the incident.

“The incident happened in the wee hours on Thursday. A tractor was carrying sand lifted from the ghat. When the enforcement team tried to stop the vehicle, the driver tried to escape by driving the vehicle at great speed. Then Patel tried to film it with his mobile phone. However, the mafias snatched away the mobile phone by biting his hand and threw it on fire,” said Agalpur Tehsildar Sushree Saroja Behera.

Notably, the illegal lifting of sand is on the rise in Bolangir. The sand mafias had also beaten up Agalpur Additional Tehsildar for opposing them a few months back.