Sand mafia attacks woman revenue official, team during raid in Jalna

An official said the police seized a JCB machine and a tractor from the site, but the accused managed to flee.

Jalna: Seven people involved in sand mining allegedly assaulted a woman revenue official and her team in Maharashtra's Jalna district, police said on Friday.

A case has been registered in connection with the incident that occurred in Partur tehsil on Thursday night, an official said.

He said tehsildar Prathiba Gore and her team conducted a raid at the Dudhna River to crack down on illegal sand mining.

The accused, Akhil Shaikh, Iliyas Qureshi, Azmat Qureshi, Irfan Qureshi, and three others, allegedly assaulted Gore and her team members, the official said.

The tehsildar sustained injuries to her hand, he said.

The official said the police seized a JCB machine and a tractor from the site, but the accused managed to flee.

The issue was raised in the ongoing session of the Maharashtra assembly. Partur BJP MLA Babanrao Lonikar condemned the attack on the tehsildar and demanded that the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MOCOCA) be invoked to curb the influence of sand mafia in the region.