MP woman officer takes action against illegal mining mafia, gets transferred
A woman forest officer, who reportedly took action against the illegal sand mining mafia in Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, has been transferred from Morena to Umaria within three months of her joining, show official records, evoking strong reaction from locals, who are protesting against her transfer.
The transfer of sub-divisional officer of a forest
department, Shradha Pandre, sparked protest in the district as the locals
called it an injustice with an honest officer and praised her effort for
curbing the illegal sand mining menace in the division.
Pandre’s transfer order was issued three days after she
seized illegally mined sand from a construction site of a woman police station
and the government’s pond in Morena.
“On the complaint of Pandre, an FIR has been registered
against the sub-divisional officer and sub-engineer of Police Housing Board and
two contractors for using illegal sand for the construction of the police
station. In a matter of using illegally mined sand for construction of a wall
of the pond, police are investigating,” said Rai Singh Narwariya, additional
superintendent of police, Morena, adding that no FIR has been lodged.
Pandre was attacked by the mining mafia at least 11 times
and registered the complaint at a different police station. Pandre seized more
than 80 tractor-trolleys and trucks laden with illegally mined sand worth lakhs
of rupees.
“She was a hardworking officer and we really saw a curb in
illegal sand mining in Chambal Sanctuary, which has been going on since 2007,”
said Sudhir Sapra, an environmentalist and local activist.
“The transfer of Pandre proved her accusation that mining
mafias are getting the support of police and local administration in Chambal
division. She has been punished for being an honest officer. We will stage
protest against this order,” said Satendra Singh Tomar, a social activist from
Morena, who is running a campaign on social media against the Pandre’s
transfer.
The opposition leaders also attacked the BJP-led state
government for patronizing the mining mafia. Former minister and Congress MLA
Govind Singh said, “In Chambal division, police and district administration are
patronizing the mining mafia. Huge money is involved in it. They are spoiling
the environment and Chambal Sanctuary for money. We will not keep mum against
this injustice with a woman forest officer. We will expose the state government
for punishing honest officers.”
However, state minister of urban development and housing OPS
Bhadoria said, “Pandre transfer is a routine practice. We appreciate her effort
to stop illegal mining but the accusation against the government and police are
baseless. Police officers are also working hard and taking action against the
mafia.”
“Congress leaders shouldn’t say anything about the transfer
as we all know that during their tenure of 15 months, then Congress government
only focused on transfer posting business,” he added.
Morena, superintendent of police, Lalit Shakyawar said, “It
is wrong to blame the police. Police are taking action against the mafia. Even
we requested Shradha Pandre to inform the police before taking any action
against mafia so that enough police force could send for protection but she
hardly paid any attention to our request.”
Despite repeated attempts, Pandre couldn’t be contacted. On
Facebook, she had posted, “The transfer is a normal practice for me as whenever
I took a tough action against the mafia, I had to face this. Earlier too, I was
transferred for the same reason.”
The Supreme Court order banned sand mining in Chambal
Wildlife Sanctuary in 2007 but illegal sand mining still takes place. Every
day, at least 100 dumpers and 1,000 tractor trolleys are used for
transportation of illegally excavated sand from Chambal, claimed locals.
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