Forest guard crushed by sand mafia’s tractor in Morena:dies in front of his brother-in-law, SC takes cognisance

Forest guard Harikesh Gurjar (33) was crushed to death on Wednesday morning (8 April) while trying to stop a tractor-trolley loaded with sand in the Ambah game range of Morena. The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the attack on the forest department team that had gone to stop illegal sand mining in the Chambal sanctuary. The matter will be heard next week. The deceased’s brother-in-law, Gaurav Gurjar, said, “I saw my brother-in-law’s head being crushed before my eyes. He died in agony. I could do nothing. My sister became a widow before my eyes. His young children have lost their father.” Harikesh’s colleague and eyewitness Sandeep Gurjar said they were on routine patrolling. When a tractor was seen coming from Ranpur Tiraha, the range officer asked them to stop it. Harikesh was the most agile in the team. Accused tractor driver still evading police capture According to sources, after killing the forest guard, Vinod Kori reached Shivbaikunth petrol pump about 1 km from the spot. He changed clothes there and told staff that police were chasing him. After unloading the sand, he passed in front of Dimni police station, about 4 km away, and later abandoned the tractor in the Mata Basaiya area before fleeing. DSP Vijay Bhadouria said raids were conducted at several locations during the night, but the accused has not been arrested yet. Two people have emerged as owners of the tractor used in the incident. One of them is Pawan Tomar, BJP’s Dimni mandal vice-president, and the other is Sonu Chauhan, a mandal minister in BJP Yuva Morcha. Colleague said- Government sent him to face death with just a stick Sandeep said the government has taken away their weapons and sent them to face death with only sticks. “Can anyone fight murderous mafia with just a stick? If we act, we die; if we don’t, we face action from above. If we had weapons, he would not have dared run over Harikesh. We could have neutralised him. Everyone has the right to self-defence,” he said. He added that they have been unarmed for five years and are doing duty with sticks. There are 18 ghats in their range from Dimni to Bhind, while their five 12-bore rifles are deposited at Nagra police station. Brother-in-law says, ‘My brother-in-law breathed his last before my eyes’ Harikesh’s brother-in-law Gaurav Gurjar was also part of the patrol. He said he had come to meet Harikesh at the Ambah game range office a day before the incident and stayed overnight. On Wednesday morning, Harikesh said they were going to act against illegal sand mining, and Gaurav decided to travel towards Morena. “I was following the inspection team in my vehicle. Near Ranpur Tiraha, a tractor-trolley was seen coming from Veerpur Kuthiyana side. Harikesh got down and signalled the driver to stop,” he said. “When the driver did not stop, he showed his stick. The driver first slowed down, then suddenly rammed into him. I saw his head being crushed before my eyes. He died in agony and I could do nothing. My sister became a widow before my eyes. His young children have lost their father,” Gaurav said. Instructions to file affidavit on such incidents The matter of the forest guard’s killing while trying to stop illegal sand transport was urgently mentioned in the Supreme Court. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta took suo motu cognisance. The case is linked to an ongoing suo motu petition on illegal sand mining in the region, in which an application had been filed by the amicus curiae. During the hearing on Thursday, Justice Mehta said some “extremely serious” incidents have emerged in the area. The bench asked advocate-on-record Rupali Samuel, one of the amici, to file an affidavit bringing details of other incidents on record and to inform the Madhya Pradesh counsel in advance. Got the job in 2016, transferred to Morena in 2025 Harikesh’s friend Pratap Gurjar said he was a good athlete who performed well in 800m and 1500m races from local to national level and was a national champion who won several awards. He was selected as a forest guard in 2016. He joined Panna Tiger Reserve on 26 June 2016. On 7 August 2025, he was transferred to Ghat Varotha in Sabalgarh game range of Morena forest division, later revised to Ghat Sankri in Ambah game range. Harikesh is survived by his father Ramniwas Gurjar, wife Lovely, four-year-old daughter Tanvi and two-year-old son Tanmay. His elder brother Rishikesh Gurjar works as a reader in Indergarh tehsil of Datia. Rifles deposited in 2021, fighting unarmed since then About 12 forest personnel are responsible for stopping illegal sand mining in Ambah game range. After a villager died in firing by forest staff in 2021, all 12-bore rifles were deposited at the police station. Since then, they have been confronting the sand mafia with sticks. In March last year, the mafia had threatened to shoot them if they tried to stop them. A video of the threat had also gone viral. Sand Mafia Carried Out 3 Attacks in 4 Months This Year Department Has Prepared Proposal to Grant Martyr Status DFO Harishchandra Baghel said Harikesh was like a family member and a brave man has been lost. A proposal is being sent to grant him martyr status, and his wife will be given a job. Collector Lokesh Kumar Jangid said compassionate appointment and gratuity will be given to the family. A proposal has also been sent to the Chief Minister’s Office for financial assistance of ₹10 lakh. The Collector has instructed in a task force meeting that forest, police and revenue officials should not conduct operations alone. No illegal sand markets should be allowed in any area, registrations of all sand-transporting tractors must be checked, and those involved in sand trade crimes should be identified and externed from the district.