Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Monday alleged that the sand mafia is nowadays running the governments in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Singh, who was commenting on the suspension of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal for taking on the powerful sand mining mafia in Uttar Pradesh, used the occasion to target the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
"Sand mafia is there in Uttar Pradesh not only from the time of this government, but from the time of the previous government," said Singh.
"This sand mafia is also working in Madhya Pradesh, So, this sand mafia is nowadays running the governments in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh," he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party have lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh Government following the IAS officer's suspension, and alleged that it was trying to shelter the sand mafia.
Nagpal was the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Greater Noida until her suspension.
She was removed, ostensibly for ordering the demolition of a mosque being built illegally on government land.
Nagpal, 28, was suspended barely six months after getting her first posting in the state.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) Government has described the suspension of the 2009-batch IAS officer as an 'administrative decision', as her orders to demolish a mosque could cause communal tension.
Nagpal had cracked down on illegal mining in Greater Noida in the last few weeks, seizing nearly 300 trolleys of sand from the Yamuna river bed. She had also formed special flying squads to check the menace, rampant along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in western Uttar Pradesh.
Several IAS officers have now come out in support of Nagpal, and asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan to revoke her suspension.
