Jodhpur: The killing of constable Sunil Bishnoi by the gravel mining mafia in Luni area on Sunday has started a political blame game. Former chief minister and MLA from Sardarpura in Jodhpur district, Ashok Gehlot, trained his guns on Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma Thursday, accusing his govt of accepting “donations” from the gravel mining mafia.“The gravel mafia has become so powerful that the state govt appears helpless. This govt has no strength to rein them in. This implies collusion between them and, we believe, they take donations from them,” he said while talking to the media at Jaipur airport.Rajasthan govt’s law minister and MLA from Luni, Jogaram Patel, claimed that all types of mafia, including the gravel mafia, had thrived in the five-year rule of the previous Congress govt.Patel’s statement came in response to a post by Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully on X, in which he accused the BJP govt of patronising the gravel mafia.“Illegal mining mafia in the state has become to powerful in the state that even policemen are not safe. Increasing incidents of attack and terror of the mafia shows that they have political patronage. Such attacks also indicate that there is no law and order in the state and only mafia are ruling,” Jully said on X.Cops launch crackdown: Police here Thursday arrested 11 persons and seized 78 vehicles, with 25 police teams raiding over 100 locations infamous for gravel mining and seizing a huge stock of gravel weighing 4,200 tonnes. tnn
