Sindhudurg SP to be sent on compulsory leave: Fadnavis

Mumbai: Sindhudurg SP Dattatray Shinde will be sent on compulsory leave, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today informed the Assembly after opposition MLAs created noisy scenes, seeking action against the official for the way he handled the sand mining dumper operators stir in the coastal district.

"Taking into consideration the sentiments of the House, the Superintendent of Police will be sent on compulsory leave," Fadnavis said, after vociferous demand by opposition MLAs seeking punitive action against Shinde and other officials who they alleged tried to forcibly suppress a democratic protest.

After violence during the stir, a Kankavali court had remanded Congress MLA Nitesh Rane in police custody till March 10. Rane was arrested along with 21 others by the Sindhudurg police after the district collectorate was damaged by dumper operators engaged in the thriving sand mining industry.

Rane, representing Kankavali, is the son of former chief minister Narayan Rane. He was leading an agitation of dumper owners who have been protesting against the district collector for a drive under which truck owners were being fined for ferrying mined material.

The ban on sand mining in Maharashtra's coastal districts of Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Thane was lifted last year after the government promised the National Green Tribunal that it would ensure mining did not affect the environment.

The district collectorate, however, started a crackdown against dumper owners who were found to be ferrying mined goods by flouting norms.

Earlier in the day, the House was adjourned amid pandemonium after Nitesh and several opposition MLAs created noisy scenes and shouted slogans against the "dictatorship" of the Sidhudurg authorities.