Odisha RTI activist held in illegal mining case

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An RTI activist was arrested in Odisha's Jajpur district on Wednesday for allegedly illegally excavating and transporting earth and murrum from government land, police said. The RTI activist from Dharmasala was arrested after tehsildar Swagat Das filed a police complaint against him and two others on Tuesday evening.

Besides the RTI activist, police have arrested five others including some drivers of the tractors and an earthmover and seized the vehicles engaged in illegal mining. The tehsildar, in his FIR, stated that acting on a tip-off about illegal mining in Saroi village, he went to the spot with his team on Tuesday and found five tractors and an earthmover illegally excavating and transporting earth and murrum from government land.

"When we tried to catch them, they attempted to escape from the spot with their vehicles. In the meantime, local police arrived at the spot and our team along with police managed to catch all six vehicles along with five of the drivers," said the tehsildar in his complaint. Police seized all the vehicles used in the illegal mining and brought them to the police station along with five drivers.

During interrogation, the drivers revealed they excavated over 100 trips of earth and murrum from the government land and dumped those on private land owned by three persons, including the RTI activist. Based on the complaint, police registered a case sections of the Indian Penal Code and Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act and started the probe.

Police arrested the RTI activist on Wednesday from his Jaraka residence. When contacted, Jajpur Collector Chakravarti Singh Rathore said the district administration has been conducting its enforcement on illegal mining. "We have imposed a fine of over Rs 300 crore on illegal mining and filed over 100 FIRs against the violators in the last two years to curb illegal mining in the district," he said.

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