JHANSI: Illegal sand miners allegedly attacked a team of government officials here and forcibly took back two sand-laden tractors that had been seized, an officer said on Thursday.
According to Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ajay Yadav, the incident occurred in the Mau Ranipur area during an operation against illegal sand mining on Wednesday.
The accused, including tractor drivers, allegedly misbehaved with the SDM's staff and took away the seized tractors laden with illegally extracted sand.
A complaint was filed at Katera police station by SDM security staff member Kamta Prasad, a resident of Itayal village.
The SDM said he and two other officials -- Mahendra Singh and Kamlesh -- were attempting to stop tractors transporting sand illegally near Jait Mata Mandir in Kachnev village when they were assaulted.
The accused were identified as Sohit Yadav and Ankit Yadav, along with several other unidentified persons.
The attackers escaped with the vehicles, police said.
Police said they have registered a case under sections 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 121 (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
An investigation is underway, and efforts are being made to trace the accused, the police added.