Jammu: In a new development to the minor mineral controversy triggered by former legislator Vikram Randhawa’s spate of allegations, the officer at the center of the storm, Ankur Sachdev has been removed from the post of District Mineral Officer, Jammu.
In a press conference on May 8, former legislator and senior BJP leader Vikram Randhawa had leveled a series of allegations against a number of government functionaries including the District Mineral Officer Jammu, Ankur Sachdev. Randhawa has also openly threatened to kill Sachdev and then self-immolate himself. He had accused Sachdev of corruption and said that the District Mineral Officer had made the life of stone crusher unit holders difficult.
Speaking to a number of interviews subsequently, Sachdev had denied allegations and said that Randhawa’s utterances were purely out of frustration following official action against illegal mining. Sachdev had accused Randhwa of running illegal mining operations.
Randhawa is also facing court cases of at least three types for leveling unsubstantiated charges against Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh. Dr. Singh, who widely enjoys the reputation of a clean politician, has sued Randhawa in a Delhi court.
While many aspects of this controversy are still going on, including Randhawa presenting evidence of money transferred into the bank account of an official of the Minerals Department, the Government today removed Ankur Sachdev as District Minerals Officer, Jammu.
According to an order of Manoj Dwivedi, Commissioner-Secretary of Mining Department, Ankur Sachdev has been removed as District Mining Officer and asked to report in the office of Senior Drilling Engineer, Jammu.
Vishal Dogra, who was District Mineral Officer in Udhampur has been posted as the new District Mineral Officer, Jammu.
