Guwahati: Illegal sand miners assaulted two Forest Department personnel and stole a seized dump truck Tuesday night in Assam. The chaos erupted near Gauripur in Dhubri district. Trouble started at 7:28 pm when a patrol team stopped a sand-laden dumper, registration NL-02-AC-0077, near the Balodmara Petrol Pump. Driver Ashadul Sheikh of Kokrajhar lacked the mandatory Electronic Transit Pass or legal paperwork. Officials seized the truck and ordered Forest Guard Rantu Pathak and staffer Alimuddin Sheikh to escort it to the Old Social Forestry Office Campus.
Things turned violent at 7:56 pm. A white Bolero, registration AS-01-FZ-4043, blocked the dumper near Gauripur Jatiya Bidyalaya in the Narisamiti area. A man identified as Hasen drove the Bolero and ordered the dumper driver to dump the sand immediately. The dumper slammed into an electric pole during the forced unloading. Live wires snapped. Power went out. Nearby homes reported fried appliances from a subsequent power surge.
The attackers seized the moment to strike. Rantu Pathak was thrown from the moving truck while Alimuddin Sheikh suffered a beating and verbal abuse while trying to do his job. The assailants offloaded the sand and fled in the Bolero with the dumper in tow. Forester-1 Sahabaz Sultan filed a formal complaint with the Gauripur Police Station. Sultan stated, "Gauripur Police have initiated an investigation into the incident and are working to identify and apprehend those allegedly involved." Police are now building a case for assault on public servants, obstruction of duty, and theft of state-seized property.
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