Congress accuses Madhya Pradesh govt. of supporting mining mafia

New Delhi, Mar 13 (ANI): Training its guns on Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Congress leader Kantilal Bhuria has accused the former of supporting the mining mafia and other illegal activities in the state.

Bhuria told media here that Chauhan has failed to deal with illegal mining activities in the state and demanded the intervention of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the scandal.

"Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in Madhya Pradesh and Shivraj Singh Chauhan is the chief minister and he should stop the illegal activities in the state. However, he himself is directing the mafias and the BJP leaders to indulge in illegal mining activities," he said.

"So, how can he put the blame on other parties? This issue was also raised in the provincial assembly, but he could not answer, as he is pressurised by the mafias. Therefore, we demand that Home Minister P. Chidambaram should order the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe into the matter," Bhuria added.

He also slammed state authorities for attempting to hold back proceedings in the case because of involvement of top BJP leaders in illegal mining.

"The state government has asked the senior administrative and police officials not to take any actions against the mining mafias, else they will be killed. The recent example is the murder of the senior police official (Narendra Kumar) in Morena district when a tractor crushed him to death. Several renowned people are involved in this however; the chief minister wants to suppress the matter by ordering a simple magistrate-level inquiry. The BJP leaders are also involved in this," said Bhuria.

Narendra Kumar was posted as Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) at Banmore in Madhya Pradesh and he had to face the consequences with his life when he tried to intercept a tractor laden with illegally mined stones from the Morena district on Thursday. (ANI)