(News) Sand mafia behind the supension of IAS Officer Durga Shakti Nagpal

Bolstered by political patronage, the sand mafia is wreaking havoc across the state's rivers and doesn't give two hoots about court orders. The suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal has only strengthened this belief.

The mafia's connections with politicians, policemen and bureaucrats have enabled them to spread their roots across Vindhyachal, Bundelkhand, Purvanchal and the Ganga-Yamuna plains. Illegal mining is widespread in all rivers - Ganga, Yamuna, Chambal, Ken, Betwa, Rapti and Gomti.

"It is a business without any regulations," says Ashish Sagar, an activist who has been taking on the mafia in Banda. And it's highly lucrative because, as Sagar puts it, "You sell something you haven't produced. You buy nothing, but sell it well because there's high demand."

The rise of many a sand miner has been meteoric. A small-time worker of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Banda (name withheld) entered the business six months ago. Not only has he gained financially - he owns an SUV now - but also politically as he has recently been made an office-bearer of the party's local unit.

Another case in point is the jailed former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, who was one of Banda's sand lords and went on to head the mining department in the Mayawati regime.

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Courtesy : Hindustan Times