Bolangir: In yet another case of attack by the sand mafia, a Revenue Inspector (RI) in Odisha’s Bolangir district was allegedly thrashed by the sand mafia for opposing the illegal lifting of sand in the Salebhata area in the district on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, Agalpur Tehsildar Saroja Behera directed the RI of the Babufasad area Sushant Patel to raid Murasundha ghat along the Anga river. Patel reached the spot with his team and found some people were mining sand illegally from the river bank. He started making a video of the illegal activity.
Sensing trouble, the sand mafia allegedly attacked Patel, snatched his mobile phone, and set it on fire. According to an FIR lodged at the Salbheta police station, the sand mafia also beat up Patel and one of them reportedly bit his hand before fleeing the spot.
Patel was rushed to nearby Dunguripali hospital, where he is currently undergoing treatment.
Based on a complaint filed by Agalpur Tehsildar, Salbheta police launched an investigation into the incident.
According to reports, the incident occurred in the wee hours on Thursday when a tractor was carrying sand lifted from the river bank. When the enforcement team reached the spot, the tractor-driver tried to escape with the vehicle. Patel tried to film the development with his mobile phone, but the mafia snatched his phone by biting his hand and threw it on fire.
