Ropar illegal sand mining: Channi hides in tipper truck for raids

Former Punjab chief minister and Congress MP from Jalandhar, Charanjit Singh Channi. (Source: File)

The former Punjab chief minister and Congress MP from Jalandhar, Charanjit Singh Channi, carried out a late-night surprise ‘raid’ on an illegal mining site near Anandpur Sahib in Ropar, on the intervening night of October 15 and 16. Channi had alleged large-scale illegal extraction of sand and gravel along the Sutlej riverbed.

The Congress leader from Ropar, Barinder Singh Dhillon, and other party workers also accompanied Channi.

Channi reached the site near Saidpur and Beihera villages, close to midnight, hiding in the back of a tipper truck. In the videos shot during the raid, he said that smugglers were armed with weapons and had made tight security arrangements, due to which no car or two-wheeler could reach the mining locations. Channi also said, “This is the Ropar district near the Satluj River…. We have been here since 11:00 or 11:30 PM. Illegal mining is taking place throughout the river at night. We have intercepted numerous machines; thousands of tipper trucks were fleeing the area, loaded with gravel and sand.”

During a press conference on Friday at the Punjab Congress office, Channi claimed that at approximately 1 am, multiple Poclain excavators were actively digging sand and long queues of tipper trucks were waiting to be loaded.

The Congress leader said some drivers fled, abandoning machinery and equipment, but he intercepted several drivers and machines to gather information about the operations.

He also alleged that the entire operation was being conducted under the supervision of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership and named several ministers and MLAs allegedly involved in it. “There are 200 illegal mining sites in Anandpur Sahib, and these alone are resulting in a loss of several hundred crores per month to the state exchequer.”

Channi said he called the Ropar Deputy Commissioner from the site, informed him of the alleged activity, and requested that officials be sent immediately. He claimed that no government or administrative official arrived for a considerable period despite the call.

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Referring to sand as Punjab’s “chitta sona or white gold”, Channi accused the trade of continuing under government patronage and with the complicity of officials who, he said, remained “asleep at home” while illegal extraction persisted at night. Channi also challenged the AAP government’s long-standing claim of generating around Rs 20,000 crore annually from mining, demanding an explanation for where the money was going if it was not entering the state treasury.

“The gravel which is being supplied to the stone crushers is being shown to have been acquired from Himachal Pradesh. Fake entry slips of these truck loads of gravel are prepared so as to bypass the ban on gravel in Punjab. But the fact of the matter is that there is a complete ban on supply of raw materials from Himachal Pradesh and no such transaction occurs,” said Channi.

The former CM also demanded that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should expand their investigations into illegal mining to expose the scam. He also named several AAP functionaries and alleged that they were cooperating in the entire scam.

No immediate official response from the Ropar district administration or the state government, and the AAP was available to comment on Channi’s specific claims at the time of filing this report.