16 trucks carrying mining material escape as cops fail to reach spot

Sixteen trucks carrying illegal mining material worth lakhs of rupees managed to escape from the custody of officials of the Mining Department as the police failed to arrive at the scene to help the officials.

This development has become the talk of the town with the police finding it hard to defend themselves. The trucks were operating without valid documents. They were trying to enter Punjab from J&K on Thursday evening. Mining Department officials SDO Sandeep Samyal and Junior Engineers (JE) Amit Kapila, Sangamdeep Singh and Abhishek Attri had received inputs about their movement. Subsequently, they had established a check-post near Kirrian village on the Pathankot-Sundarchak Road to confiscate the vehicles.

The state stands to lose revenue when undocumented trucks enter the state without paying the relevant fees. According to the norms, each truck illegally entering the state from outside states is fined Rs 2 lakh.

Mining officials said they stopped the trucks at 7.30 pm and till 1.30 am, the police did not reach the scene.

XEN Nitin Sood said he reached immediately after getting a call from his colleagues. “We called up several officials of the Taragarh police station, but they had their mobile phones switched off. After some time, we called up the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Aditya Uppal who sent some policemen from his own staff to ensure the truckers did not flee. In the meantime, two SUVs (Scorpio) arrived following which its occupants started misbehaving. There were at least 10 persons in the two vehicles. Since we had no police protection and were outnumbered, all the 16 trucks and the SUVs escaped,” said XEN Sood.

A case has been registered at the Taragarh police station based on a complaint filed by XEN Samyal.

SSP Daljinder Singh Dhillon said under such circumstances, the police should be informed in advance. “At times, our force is preoccupied with other engagements,” he said.

XEN Sood said the hooligans manhandled his staff. “We seized the trucks at 7.30 pm and for the next few hours, we kept on contacting the police. What else advance information should we have given? In the meantime, the miscreants badly manhandled my staff,” said Sood.

A mining official said the trucks managed to flee due to the police inaction. “The cops never turned up despite repeated requests,” he said.

SSP Dhillon said the police had stumbled on some clues, adding that the trucks would be impounded soon and the culprits brought to book.

Caption: A truck carrying mining material in the custody of the Mining Department before they managed to escape in Pathankot.

Amritsar