Gwalior, April 9 Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Govind Singh on Thursday criticized the BJP government over the killing of a forest guard by illegal sand miners the day before, alleging that such mafia groups are running the state.
Forest guard Harkesh Gurjar (35) was killed after a tractor-trolley ran over him in the Morena district on Wednesday morning. The incident occurred on National Highway-552 near Ranpur village when forest personnel attempted to stop a tractor-trolley carrying sand.
"The state is being run by mafia, not the BJP. Illegal mining is being carried out across districts under political patronage. In the past 10 years, 13 people in Morena and 19 in Bhind have been killed by vehicles linked to mining activities in the Gwalior-Chambal region," Singh said.
He also cited a 2012 incident in which an IPS officer was killed in the same region, allegedly by mining mafia.
He further claimed that illegal sand mining was rampant in the Chambal and Sindh rivers in the Gwalior-Chambal belt.
BJP MLAs, ministers, MPs, and senior leaders were providing protection to those involved in illegal mining, the former state minister alleged.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who handles the home portfolio, must take immediate action to curb the activities of such groups, Singh said.
Singh's statement came on a day when the Supreme Court agreed to hear next week an application which raised the issue of the forest guard's killing.
The matter was mentioned before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, which is hearing a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.