A police constable was run over by a truck carrying illegally mined sand in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district Thursday evening, police said.
The incident took place at Narayanpura village in Jeevargi, when 51-year-old head constable M Chauhaan signalled the truck to stop for inspection, NDTV reported. However, the driver of the truck sped away, running over Chauhaan and killing him on the spot.
The police has registered a case against the accused shortly after the incident. State Minister Priyank Kharge further said that an investigation has been ordered into the incident.
" I have once again given strict orders to the police department to immediately take legal action against illegal sand mining. An investigation has been ordered into the incident," he said.
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Meanwhile, the BJP came down heavily on the ruling Congress in Karnataka and said that "law and order in the state is collapsing thanks to Congress."
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a tweet, "Head constable in Kalaburagi mowed down by tractor, murdered by illegal sand mafia Law & order in Karnataka is collapsing thanks to Congress which is giving free run to radicals & mafias for votebank and corruption purposes & is destroying the law & order there."
According to local media reports, Karnataka has observed over 10,000 cases of illegal sand mining over the last three years despite the state government trying to introduce a new policy to regulate the availability of the commodity.
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Data tabled in the Legislative Council shows that illegal sand mining has gone unabated even during the pandemic with about 3,451 identified cases in 2020-21 and 3,193 cases in 2019-20. In 2018-19, there were 3,869 cases identified, adding up to 10,513 cases over the last three years, as per a Deccan Herald report.
