Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Jammu and Kashmir Police have seized or challaned twelve vehicles across Baramulla, Anantnag and Sopore districts as part of intensified enforcement against illegal mining and unauthorised transportation of minerals, officials said. The coordinated action reflects a sustained crackdown by the police against operators who bypass royalty documentation requirements while extracting sand and boulders from riverbeds and other sensitive sites across Kashmir.
In Baramulla, police stepped up checking across the district and acted against four tippers found transporting sand without valid documentation or royalty papers. During a checking operation at Zehanpora, located adjacent to an archaeological site, one tipper bearing registration number JK16-6900 was intercepted while carrying illegally extracted sand and subsequently challaned under the relevant provisions of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act. Separately, naka checking operations in the district led to the interception of three more tippers found carrying sand without proper paperwork, all of which were seized and challaned for further legal action.
In Anantnag, police intercepted two vehicles bearing registration numbers JK05A-6814 and JK03M-9791, driven respectively by Bilal Ahmad Bhat, son of Gh. Hussan Bhat and a resident of Magam, Kokernag, and Maqsood Ahmad Malik, son of Nazir Ahmad Malik and a resident of Adhaal, Vailoo. Both vehicles were found transporting illegal boulders and were intercepted accordingly, with police taking cognizance of the matter and initiating further legal proceedings against the drivers involved.
In Sopore, police seized six vehicles found involved in illegal mineral extraction across the police district, rounding out the twelve vehicle enforcement drive spanning the three districts. The action underscores the continuing challenge posed by unauthorised sand and boulder extraction in Kashmir, which officials say damages riverbeds, disturbs natural drainage and threatens archaeological and ecologically sensitive sites near extraction points.
Authorities have repeatedly flagged illegal mining as a persistent law and order and environmental concern in the Valley, particularly along rivers such as the Jhelum and its tributaries, where unchecked sand lifting has been linked to erosion and altered water flow. Police said enforcement under the MMDR Act will continue across all districts, with further checking operations planned to deter unauthorised extraction and transportation. Legal action against those challaned in the latest drive is expected to proceed through the appropriate courts.
