lucknow

Updated: Jul 15, 2017 15:45 IST

A team of forest officials and guards came under a major attack from the mining mafia after it tried to stop illegal mining near Chambal close to Pachavgaon and Bahadurpura villages of Etawah, on Friday.

Injured forest ranger Vivek Varma and four forest guards have been admitted to a hospital in Etawah. The attackers looted their three guns, one rifle and two double barrel guns.

Combing operations were underway in and around Chambal ravines to track down the culprits who were helped by local villagers. SSP Etawah Vaibhav Krshna a FIR was registered against 10 persons of whom six were arrested. “Raids are on to nab the remaining four culprits,” he said and added further, “Police will invoke Gangster Act and seize properties of mining mafias under provisions of the act.”

Police recovered vehicle of the perpetrators some distance away from the crime scene, however, the looted arms were not found till the filing of this report.

As per reports, Verma had received a tip off about sand being illegally mined near Pachavgaon and Bahadurpura villages. He reached the site with forest guards and tried to seize the heavy vehicles on which sand was being loaded. People who were monitoring the loading from a Scorpio came out and attacked the team. One of the henchmen brought some villagers who also beat up the forest department team.

Other than Verma, forest guards Braj Mohan, Rakesh Kumar, Satya Prakash and Amit Kumar were also injured in the assault, said the police.

The police, however, asked the team why it did not seek assistance of local police when it planned to undertake this operation. Under the locally placed standard operating procedure, the forest department and police operate jointly against illegal miners, particularly in the sanctuary zone of the forest.

Mining goes on the district unabated in formerly dacoit infested pockets such as Sahson, Badhpura, Pachavgaon, Bahadurpura, Jaswant Nagar, Balrai and Chakar Nagar.