Jaipur: Supreme Court Wednesday took urgent note of the death of a forest ranger in Pratapgarh district and sought the state govt’s response by Oct 6.A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta listed the matter after senior advocate Nikhil Goel, amicus curiae in the suo motu illegal sand mining case concerning National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary (NCGS), flagged a news report on the incident published Wednesday. Goel said the report had been shared with Rajasthan’s Additional Advocate General (AAG) Shiv Mangal Sharma.According to police, Pratap Singh Chundawat (40) died after being run over by a dumper truck and dragged with his motorcycle in Pratapgarh district’s Chhoti Sadri area late on Sept 21 while trying to stop illegal soil excavation.AAG Sharma told the apex court that the incident was not connected to NCGS and did not involve illegal sand mining. He said he had spoken to Rajasthan director general of police (DGP) and that action in the matter had been initiated. A detailed action taken report would be filed before the court, he submitted.The bench observed that preventive detention should be invoked in such incidents across Rajasthan, and not just in cases linked to illegal sand mining in protected areas.The matter arises amid Supreme Court’s continuing monitoring of illegal mining in the Chambal region. In earlier directions to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the court had called for stronger surveillance, checkposts, prosecution of illegal mining networks and protection of frontline forest personnel.In its July 22 order, it had also asked the states to consider preventive detention against kingpins and habitual offenders involved in organised illegal sand mining.The apex court, in an earlier hearing, flagged what it described as the “total failure” of authorities, particularly in Rajasthan, to curb illegal sand mining in NCGS. The bench had observed that measures claimed to have been taken by the states appeared to exist only on paper despite adequate resources being available.GRAPHICS:In March 2026, Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threats to endangered aquatic wildlifeIt was taken on newspaper reports highlighting rampant illegal mining in areasNational Chambal Sanctuary is a 5,400 sq km tri-state protected areaBesides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganga river dolphin.
