Mining Officer Hospitalised In Attack By Stone Mining Mafia In Odisha’s Khurda

Khurda: A mining officer was critically injured in an alleged attack by some members of stone mining mafia in Odisha’s Khurda district on Tuesday.

As per reports, mining officer Jagan Behera was informed about illegal mining of laterite stones at Gudam on the outskirts of Khurda. Behera informed the police and rushed to the spot along with some officials.

He told the people engaged in extraction of the stones to stop the mining and produce official permission for mining. But the latter attacked him with mining equipment and also damaged his official car.

However, the police reached there in time and rescued Behere. The mining officer was rushed to district headquarters hospital at Khurda. Later, he was shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. Police have filed a case in this regard.

Though the assailants managed to escape from the spot, the police have detained two persons on suspicion and are questioning them about involvement of others in the attack.

The police have also started conducting raids on different places in the town and nearby areas to trace the attackers and the people engaged in illegal stone mining.