A person was arrested on Sunday in connection with a case of firing on a police team, which had gone to Ajaygarh to probe illegal mining in the area, by the sand mafia, the police said.
“Kubar Singh has been taken into custody from the area where illegal sand mining was going on,” Panna SP Anil Maheshwari said.
“The police, after taking control of the area, also removed the temporary bridge erected by the mafia for transporting sand,” he said.
The sand mafia, engaged in illegal excavation, on Saturday opened fire at the team headed by Ajaygarh sub-divisional magistrate Nathuram Goud and sub divisional police officer Jagannath Singh Markam in Chandipatha, about 70-80 km from Panna, Madhya Pradesh.
The miners eventually escaped. The team found that a makeshift bridge had been constructed over River Ken for transporting the sand to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
The issue of illegal mining in Madhya Pradesh has come into focus following the murder of Indian Police Service officer Narendra Kumar Singh in Morena district last Thursday.
IPS officer Narendra Kumar Singh was mowed down under a tractor-trolley by an alleged member of the mining mafia, when he tried to stop a vehicle, carrying illegally quarried stones, in the district.
