Durga Shakti Nagpal's classmate attacked, nearly killed for taking on sand mafia

Solan: A bureaucrat in Himachal Pradesh was nearly killed allegedly by the illegal sand mining mafia in the Solan district, 45 km from state capital of Shimla.

Yunus Khan, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Nalagarh, is from the same batch of IAS officers as Durga Shakti Nagpal, whose suspension by the Uttar Pradesh government has generated a national debate on the need to protect honest officers from political interference and vendetta. That point was also made forcefully a few days ago in a letter from Congress President Sonia Gandhi to the Prime Minister. She cited Ms Nagpal's case.

Mr Khan was trying to impound a vehicle on Wednesday with illegally-mined sand on Wednesday with the help of his staff when the driver tried to hit his car, in an attempt to force it over a bridge. Not once, but four times.

When the tractor-trolley, piled with illegally excavated sand and gravel toppled over, the driver ran away.  He was later arrested, said the police.

"We heard the mafia was trying to excavate forest land," Mr Khan told NDTV.  He said that the illegal mining in Himachal Pradesh is ordered by stake-holders from Punjab and Haryana. "Our ecology is disturbed by the illegal mining.  My concern is to uphold the law and prevent this," he said.

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Of his classmate, Ms Nagpal, whose case has generated headlines for weeks, Mr Khan said, "She is a good officer but we don't usually discuss work."

Ms Nagpal, 28, was suspended from her office in Greater Noida, on charges that she endangered communal harmony by ordering the demolition of the wall of a new mosque being built without permission on public land.

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The UP government headed by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has denounced allegations that it was her campaign to stop illegal sand mining that resulted in the action against her.