Constable Dharmendra Chauhan who was killed when the driver reversed the dumper at a high speed.
On Sunday, a 38-year-old constable, Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, was killed when he tried to stop a truck carrying illegally mined sand in the Noorabad area of Madhya Pradesh's Morena district.
The state government has announced a compensation to his bereaved family which includes Rs 11 lakh, salary for his entire period of service, a government job and education to his children. But this compensation is little consolation for the deceased constable's 28-year-old wife Mala Devi.
Pooran Singh, Dharmendra Chauhan's father-in-law of told NDTV, "Why only my son-in-law died? Why did his colleagues not help him? How did the driver escape? More than the compensation, we want answers to these questions from the state government."
These questions have embarrassed the police force.
Sub-Inspector SD Mishra of Noorabad police station says, "We were going to Dhanela. On the way, a dumper was parked which, on seeing us, started reversing. I ordered my men to catch them. Dharmendra was the first to rush. He tried to stop the truck but it toppled on one side crushing him. We were still 40 metres away from him. By the time we reached, the driver escaped."
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a high level meeting in Bhopal, following which he told the media, "We have decided to form an SIT to investigate the case and file a report in 15 days. Accordingly, we will take an action. Across the state, we are taking action and this incident took place when our officer was checking illegal mining. It's tragic."
This incident has brought back the memories of IPS officer Narendra Kumar being crushed by a tractor laden with illegally mined stone in 2012.
In 2014, over 6800 cases were registered and Rs 12 crore was collected as fine from illegal miners. However, critics allege that the illegal business is continuing with the connivance of officials.
An illegal miner on condition of anonymity told NDTV," There are middlemen representing the officials who check illegal mining. We pay them Rs 500 per trolley and they allow us to take the illegally mined sand. People who do not pay to the middlemen are fined. Since a police official has died, the middleman has asked to stop work for 15-20 days."
The state government has assured timely justice to the family in this case very soon. As of tonight, neither the driver nor the owner of the dumper truck have been arrested.