A team of officials led by Birbhum district magistrate Bidhan Ray raided at least three illegal sand mines on Thursday night, a week after chief minister Mamata Banerjee had publicly rebuked him for the unauthorised extraction of sand from riverbeds.

Apart from Ray, the team had Bolpur subdivisional police officer Rickey Agrawal and other senior officials. The raids were conducted after the officials received a tip-off that sand was mined illegally from the Ajay river in the Nanoor area after midnight and a larger part of the sand went to Jharkhand.

During the raids, the district magistrate witnessed how huge amounts of sand were illegally excavated from the Ajoy riverbed and smuggled under the cover of darkness. The police seized seven sand-laden dumpers and two earthmovers used in the illegal mining.

“We conducted raids on three points on the Ajoy river at midnight in the Nanoor area. We will continue raids in all those pockets from where we have received complaints of sand smuggling,” said Ray.

During an administrative review meeting on January 2, Mamata reprimanded Ray, particularly for the rise in sand smuggling in
Birbhum district.

“What happened suddenly that sand smuggling became the highest in the district? I will not tolerate the government losing its revenue,” Mamata told the district
magistrate.

“We are not as happy as before. I am giving you seven days to prevent such leaks and take action,” she added at the meeting that was
live-streamed.

The chief minister’s rebuke of the DM became a topic of discussion in the state’s administrative circles.

“Allegations of illegal sand mining are not new in south Bengal districts, but the chief minister’s concern at an open meeting over the issue is significant,” said a senior government official.

Allegations of illegal sand smuggling often come from various parts of south Bengal, particularly in districts like Birbhum, East Burdwan, Bankura and Hooghly, which are known suppliers of sand to the entire state. Allegations have surfaced that officials are bribed by illegal sand miners and those who transport
the sand.

While rebuking the DM, Mamata said she knew under whose direction such smuggling was going on. She claimed that such illegal money had been going to the BJP and asked the DM to ensure that no political party received funds from
sand smugglers.

“I don’t want that money to go to the funds of any political party — be it Trinamool, BJP or the CPM,” Mamata said.

A senior Birbhum district official said although the DM was reprimanded publicly, Mamata told police and administration officials to bust all illegal sand mining rackets, free from any political
influence.

“There is already huge pressure on the state’s exchequer because of direct benefit schemes like Lakhmir Bhandar,” said the official. “If illegal sand mining and smuggling are stopped, the state’s revenue will subsequently increase,”
he added.

After Mamata’s warning, the administrations in those districts which are the source of sand became active in raiding the possible pockets
of smuggling.

SP changed

The state government on Friday replaced Birbhum police superintendent Rajnarayan Mukherjee with Amandeep. Rajnarayan was transferred as superintendent of traffic, West Bengal Police. Amandeep, who was the police chief of East Burdwan, has been replaced by Sayak Das, a senior police officer in the CID.