'I'll shoot you and go to jail': Sand mining mafia threatens tehsildar in MP

BHOPAL: A revenue officer leading a crackdown on illegal soil excavation in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district was allegedly threatened with being shot by a man accused of illegal mining.

He shouted to his son to bring a gun during the operation, sources say.The incident took place on Thursday afternoon in Sadbud village under Badarwas tehsil. A video of the confrontation surfaced on Friday, following which police registered an FIR against Jaymandal Yadav, his father Lakhan Yadav and his son Vikul Yadav on charges including criminal intimidation and obstructing public servants from discharging their duties.According to police, a revenue department team led by Tehsildar Sachin Bhargava raided the site after receiving information about illegal excavation of soil from government land near the Sindh River. Officials found a Hydra machine excavating soil to create an access road to the riverbed for sand mining, while two tractor-trolleys were allegedly transporting the excavated earth.As the team moved to seize the vehicles, the Hydra operator fled with the machine.

During the confrontation, Jaymandal allegedly threatened the tehsildar, saying, "Stop, or I'll shoot you and go to jail," before calling out to his son Vikul to bring a gun, saying he would "shoot all of them."Amid the commotion, the accused managed to escape with the Hydra machine and one tractor-trolley. The revenue team seized another tractor-trolley loaded with illegally excavated soil and deposited it at Badarwas police station.Officials say the accused had dug deep pits on government land. During questioning, they claimed that the land belonged to them, but officials found that illegal excavation had also been carried out on adjoining government land, leading to action against them.In his complaint, officials alleged Jaymandal, Lakhan and Vikul abused the officials, threatened to kill them and obstructed them from carrying out the operation.FIR has been registered.