PATNA: Sunset is dawn for illegal sand miners in six districts of Bihar.Such is the terror of the sand mafia that police fear to tread their terrain - mostly diara (riverine) patches where boats are the only option.
Cops who try to intercept vehicles carrying illegal sand face resistance, sometimes stone-pelting by mafia henchmen for whom this building material is no less than gold.Illegal sand mining costs the state exchequer an estimated annual loss of Rs 7,000 crore, officials said.On November 14, Prabhat Ranjan, additional SHO of Garhi police station in Jamui district, was crushed to death by a tractor-driver carrying illegal sand and a constable injured when the two tried to stop the vehicle during checks.
The murder brought the menace to the fore again.
It also offered a glimpse into the impunity with which the sand mafia operate, using earth-movers, JCBs and other machines after sunset and engaging local villagers.ADG (HQ) JS Gangwar told TOI the Jamui killing was the first involving a policeman in a sand-related case in the recent past.
But such attacks are nothing new.
The difficult terrain around the river Sone, for instance, makes it difficult for the mines and geology department officials as well as cops to venture there even in daytime.
By night, hundreds of boats carry sand extracted from the riverbed to Patna, Aurangabad, Bhojpur, Gaya, Saran and Jamui districts.The illegal trade's tentacles have spread deep - the state government suspended two IPS officers (SudheerKumar Porika and Rakesh Kumar Dubey) in 2021 and 15 other officers, including four SDPOs, for alleged links with the mafia.Former mines and geology department minister Janak Ram concedes there is a lot of money in the illicit business.
"The illegal sand miners get the government's patronage and the fear of law has vanished because the cost of sand is, perhaps, the highest in Bihar," Ram, now an MLA of opposition BJP, says.The frequent attacks are a grim reminder of the threat.
On November 1 this year, a home guard jawan, Ramraj Mahto, was killed, allegedly by the mafia, in Aurangabad.
In October, at least four such attacks on cops were reported from Gaya, Jamui and Patna (Maner).
These followed similar strikes at Kadirganj in Nawada, Delha in Gaya, Bihta-Maner in Patna and Saran districts between February and September this year.ADG Gangwar says the cases are under investigation.
"There is no such data of attacks on policemen by the sand mafias.
In some cases, accidental deaths were reported as murders, though UD (unnatural death) cases had been registered," Gangwar added.
But the recent pattern suggests there is nothing "accidental" about these attacks.
In February, sand miners tried to burn alive a mining official in Saran.
In April, they were blamed for a brutal attack on some raiding mines officials, including a woman officer.Cops and officials are not the only targets: the mafias engage in violent turf wars themselves.
In September last year, at least four were killed and several injured in a shootout between two gangs at Amnabad-Katesar village in Patna's Bihta area.
Over 500 empty cartridges were found at the spot - a pointer to the cache the gangs have amassed.Four workers were burnt alive in a cylinder blast on a sand-laden boat on the Sone this August.
In July, sand mafia henchmen killed a villager, Ramvichar Rai, in Bihta after he resisted mining in his Pathlautia village.
A local moneylender, preferring anonymity, told TOI that a truck-owner borrowed Rs 3 lakh from him at 10% monthly interest to pay fines for carrying illegal sand.
He promised to repay within a month and he did, indicating the profit margins in this illegal trade.
He promised to repay within a month and he did, indicating the profit margins.