BALASORE: A day after Balasore sub-collector Kunal Sitaram Chouhan and his driver Gagan Bihari Pradhan were attacked by sand mafia, the district police on Saturday demolished an illegal brick kiln operation near Dahapada within Sahadevkhunta police limits.
A team of officials from the Revenue department along with Chouhan rushed to the kiln and demolished it as per the direction of collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde. Chouhan said the district administration had issued a notice to the owner of 101 brick kiln asking him to close the unit as it did not have the required environmental clearance and permission to operate from the collector’s office. This apart, a huge amount of sand was stored near the kiln which was seized along with several bricks during the raid.
The finished bricks seized from the kiln will be used in the construction of houses under the housing schemes of Central and state governments. While raw bricks were destroyed using JCB machines, the sand seized from the unit will be auctioned soon. Chouhan said section 144 of CrPC has been imposed at the site.
The sub-collector said the sand mafia attacked him as he had seized excavators which were used to lift sand illegally from Dahapada around two days back. When he rushed to the site to assess the seized sand and auction it, he was attacked by the mafia. “It was unfortunate. I escaped narrowly but the driver of my vehicle sustained injuries in the attack,” he said.
Meanwhile, Balasore police have launched ‘Operation Sandstorm’ to put an end to illegal mining and the lifting of minor minerals. As part of the operation, every SDPO of the district has been tasked with identifying areas, where the mining of sand and other minor minerals is rampant despite the NGT ban.
Planned proactive action against illegal mining in the district will be taken under this operation. Under the initiative, Nilgiri police apprehended six persons and detained six tractors and a tipper from the Sono river bed on the day. A criminal case under OMMC Act will be registered against the accused.