Illegal sand miners on Tuesday manhandled a land official in his office in Birbhum’s Nanoor and filmed him with bundles of money they allegedly threw on his table, threatening to frame him in a bribery case.
Shrabanta Kumar Dutta, the official, had to face the fury after he detained an illegal sand-laden dumper and fined the owner Rs 1 lakh in Birbhum’s Nanoor.
Jamirul Haque alias Sheikh Jamu, the brother of a local Trinamul worker, has been arrested on charges of assaulting Dutta and trying to ensnare him in a conspiracy.
Kerim Khan, Trinamul’s Zilla Parishad member from Nanoor who looks after public works, claimed Jamu had no connection with the party. “If anyone participates in illegal sand trade using the name of our party, the administration will take action,” said Khan.
Officials in Dutta’s land and land reforms office said he and a police team had caught a dumper laden with sand without papers on Monday evening.
Dutta slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Jamu, the owner of the vehicle.
Around 11.30am on Tuesday, Dutta was in his office when 16-odd men, allegedly part of the local sand mafia, entered his chamber and started arguing with him.
“The group entered my chamber without permission and started threatening me. I tried explaining the rules, but they turned violent and started punching me,” Dutta told this newspaper.
Dutta tried to go out of his chamber but was held back. One of the men threw a packet full of currency notes on his table and told another to click a photo with his smartphone.
“They warned me that they would circulate the video on social media and trapped in a bribery case. I immediately called up my senior official in Suri, who asked me to inform police. I have lodged a police complaint,” said Dutta.
After the incident, several land officials in the district expressed apprehension over the incident, deemed unprecedented.
“Tuesday’s incident proved that how desperate the illegal sand traders have become in Birbhum. Our chief minister has ordered us to stop illegal sand mining and its business. After this incident, we are feeling insecure,” said a senior district official in Suri.
After the incident, the district administration decided to install CCTV cameras in every land and land reforms office in the 19 blocks.
“What happened in Nanoor on Tuesday is very alarming. We will install CCTV cameras in all BL&LRO offices in the district for the security of our officials,” said Purnendu Maji, additional district magistrate (land and land reforms).
Police said they had arrested the prime accused. “We are trying to catch the others who were involved with the incident,” said a police official in Nanoor.
