2 Congress RS MPs welcome probe into 'illegal checkpoints' in Ropar district

Chandigarh [India], Aug 15 : Congress' Rajya Sabha MPs Pratap Singh Bhajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo on Saturday welcomed the preliminary inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court into the existence of illegal checkpoints near mining sites in Ropar district.
"We welcome the action of the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordering a preliminary inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the existence of the illegal checkpoints (nakas), near mining sites in Ropar District, Punjab," a joint statement by the Congress MPs read.
"It has been made abundantly clear that the State Department of Mines and Geology and the State Home Department have failed in their responsibility in curbing illegal mining and the sand mafia in Punjab," the statement further read.
On February 19, 2020, the Government of Punjab had informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that these 'nakas' or check-points do not exist in Ropar, the Congress MPs stated.
An independent report submitted on 11 August 2020 by a judicial officer from the District Legal Services Authority, Ropar, disputed the submission by the Punjab Government, by proving that these nakas do in fact exist.
"The report submitted by the DLSA and the actions taken by Punjab and Haryana High Court reinforces the statements made by Sh. Shamsher Singh Dullo and I, regarding the activities of the sand mafia in Punjab," the statement read.
"We further request the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to not confine the preliminary inquiry by the CBI to just Ropar District but to take suo motu cognisance and expand the ambit of the investigation to the whole State of Punjab," the statement further read.