The gunfight between two groups led by contractors in the Garganda tea garden of Alipurduar district on Monday night again brought to fore the presence of syndicates involved in illegal sand mining and extortion in central Dooars.

Contractor Pappu Thapa and his associate had been shot dead in the gunfight over a rivalry over bagging a contract for the construction of a culvert in the plantation. Another contractor Kundan Bhujel was arrested in connection with the shootout.

“Such syndicates do not enjoy political patronage but they have mushroomed over the years in the tea belt of central Dooars. They are into illegal mining of sand and pebbles from streams and extortion. The syndicates extort money from transporters and people who supply varied items to tea gardens and trucks which ferry the sand and stones,” said an official of a state intelligence agency.

He has said unemployed youths mostly make up the rackets. “A section of youths in tea gardens gets easily drawn into the syndicates as they can make some quick money. We have information that youths who are from closed tea estates like Lankapara are more vulnerable,” the official said.

In the Dooars tea belt, no major alternative employment is available. Youths are left with the option of migrating to other places and far-flung states for jobs.

“But some of them prefer to earn more and join these syndicates. After Covid-19 hit the country, many youths haven’t returned to their workplaces and they are into illegal activities these days,” said a police officer.

Senior police officers said they were vigilant and a number of trucks carrying construction materials (sand and pebbles) extracted illegally from rivers had been seized across Alipurduar district in the past few months.
“The drive is on. We also gather information from tea estates on a regular basis, like other parts of the district. The police will stop all such illegal activities and are taking steps to seize illegal firearms. Raids are on to arrest some others who were involved in the shootout at Garganda,” Alipurduar district police chief Y. Raghuvamshi said.