After IAS Officer, Tehsildar Comes Under Attack Of Sand Mafia In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Days after the attack on a 2020-batch IAS officer posted as sub-collector of Balasore, sand mafias allegedly assaulted the tehsildar of Derabis in Odisha’s Kendrapada district, Akshay Kumar Parida, during a recent raid at Gualsingh ghat.

Parida, who sustained serious injuries in the attack, has lodged an FIR at Kendrapada Sadar police station.

The Derabis tehsildar told the media that the incident took place while they were conducting a raid following a tip about sand being stacked unauthorizedly at Gualsingh via a narrow lane through Teeni Mohani, which obstructed traffic movement and put commuters at risk, on February 17.

“There was date or time on the documents produced by the driver of the sand-laden truck while the destination was mentioned as from Mangalpur ghat to Mahakalpada. We then asked the driver to take the truck to the tehsil office for further investigation, but he drove the vehicle towards the house of the owner, Trilochan Sahoo,” said Parida.

The Tehsildar said that as they followed the truck with their SUV, Trilochan and some people stopped their vehicle and demanded for the documents seized. “He then forced open the front door of the vehicle and attempted to snatch the diary and other papers. When I held on to them, he smashed the door back on my leg causing serious injuries,” Parida said.

He has prayed for stringent action against the accused for attacking the government officials on duty and obstructing them from carrying out their duty.

Earlier this month, Balasore sub-collector Kunal Motiram Chavan and his driver were attacked by the sand mining mafia while he was checking the papers of a sand-laden truck to calculate the value of the seized sand to begin the auction process. The administration had conducted raids in Mandarpur and Dahapada areas following a tip about illegal sand mining and confiscated several tipper trucks, tractors and JCBs.