Illegal Mining Issue: Vikram Randhawa Should Apologizes

Illegal Mining Issue: Vikram Randhawa should apologize in 24 hours or he should be ready to face a defamation case. There is a stir in the state Bharatiya Janata Party.

Party secretary former MLC Vikram Randhawa has openly accused Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh and some senior administration officials of allegedly trying to link him to the mining mafia.

He did not stop here, he threatened self-immolation and said that we will first fire the District Mining Officer.

Meanwhile, the office of Dr. Jitendra Singh termed the allegations of Vikram Randhawa as baseless and asked him to publicly apologize or be prepared to face a defamation case of Rs one crore in the court.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh’s parliamentary constituency in charge Sanjeev Sharma denied Vikram Randhawa’s allegations, saying that Vikram Randhawa should prove his allegations within 24 hours or apologize publicly.

If he does not do this, then a defamation suit of one crore rupees will be lodged on behalf of Dr. Singh. I think Vikram Randhawa is trying to spoil the image of Dr. Singh by getting into someone’s disguise.

Illegal Mining Issue: Dr. Singh has not yet decided whether he will make this claim himself or the party will file a case.

At the same time, BJP President Ravindra Raina has insisted on investigating all the allegations made by Randhawa. He said that the State Secretary should not have used indecent language towards the Minister.

He should have brought the matter to the notice of the party high command earlier.

You are aware that in a conversation with reporters at his home on Monday last, Vikram Randhawa accused the Geology and Mining Department that they are being fined even after sealing the stone crushers.

When he asked a departmental officer about this, he allegedly said that we are like agents, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh needs a week.

Former MLC and state BJP secretary Vikram Randhawa said that Dr. Singh’s alleged role in illegal mining of sand-gravel in Jammu and in awarding contracts to certain people only.

I do not say this, only certain officers of the Jammu and Kashmir administration have told me.

Randhawa said that the Department of Geology and Mining has made it difficult for local industrialists to live in Jammu and Kashmir.

Taking the name of District Mining Officer Ankur Sachdeva, he said that in November 2020, he raided 14 stone crushers.

All these crushers belong to the local people. When he could not find anything wrong there, he started paying fines. I was sent a notice of 21 lakh rupees, many received a notice of 25 lakh. We filed a petition in the High Court.

On April 19, the court directed the mining department to lift the ban on stone crushers. Along with this, it was said that 10 percent of the penalty imposed should be recovered.

But I was not willing to give even 10 percent. I agreed with what other people said. When we started writing in the High Court, the District Mining Officer imposed a fine of Rs 75 lakh.

If the District Mining Officer does not withdraw his notice for a week, then we all the stone crusher owners will self-immolate with their relatives in front of their office on 10 May.

But we will not burn in the fire alone, first set the District Mining Officer on fire. I’ll shoot him.

Illegal Mining Issue: Corruption allegations should be investigated, indecisive language is condemnable: Raina.

State BJP President Ravindra Raina said that the state secretary Vikram Randhawa has planted the allegations not as a BJP leader but as the President of the Stone Crushers Association.

So, we have nothing to do with it, but the allegations that are there are quite serious. The government should investigate them objectively to find out the truth and take drastic action against the culprits.

Vikram Randhawa has used indecent language in excitement and anger, it is condemnable.

The situation has been clarified by my office in Jammu on the allegations made by former MLC and BJP leader Vikram Randhawa.

His side has been presented by the office. I cannot say more than this. – Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office.

I have done nothing wrong. What I have done is done as per the directions of the High Court. On the orders of the High Court, we have stopped excavation in the Tawi river.

Vikram Randhawa also owns a stone crusher and the action taken against him has been done as per rules. – Ankur Sachdeva, District Mining Officer.