Raj cops attacked by sand sand mafia

Jaipur:  A team of Rajasthan police was attacked and fired at by the members of the sand mafia when it tried to stop nearly 20 sand-laden tractor trolleys at a check post in Bharatpur district on Sunday.

The sand mafia members did not only attack police but also tried to trample them under the wheels of tractors being driven by them, prompting the police to open fire and lodge tear gas shells at the assailants, Bharatpur Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh said.

After the brief exchange of fire, the police managed to seize one tractor trollies coming from Dholpur with bajri' (sand) of Chambal river, Singh said, adding all assailants managed to flee towards the UP border.

He said the police fired a total of seven rounds and lodged three tear gas shells in self-defence.

Twenty litres of illegal raw liquor too was found in the seized tractor, the SP added.

He said empty cartridges of bullets fired at the police team too were recovered at the spot of the incident.

A case has been registered under various sections of the Forest Act, Excise Act, Wildlife Protection Act and Arms Act, police said.(PTI)