What appeared to be routine movement of sand-laden trucks across Ropar district has turned out to be the visible tip of a deep-rooted illegal mining network, propped up by cyber fraud and forged government permits. In a major breakthrough, the Ropar police have busted an organised gang that created and supplied fake “Q Forms” through a bogus website, a scam that not only masked illegal transportation on paper but also directly fuelled rampant illegal mining in the district.The investigation has revealed that the racket went far beyond digital forgery. Two of the arrested accused were themselves active in illegal mining, one owning a stone crusher and the other engaged in transporting illegally mined material exposing how those extracting resources illegally also built the tools to legitimise their operations.Sharing details, Maninder Singh, SSP, Ropar, said four accused Arun Kumar alias Rana, Harinderpal Bhalla alias Nonu, Gurmeet Singh and Akhilesh Pratap Shahi have been arrested. An FIR has been registered at the Nangal police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, 2000.According to the SSP, the accused had developed a fake website similar to the official Punjab Government Mines and Geology portal. Through this bogus portal, fake Q Forms were generated for different truck numbers and supplied to drivers and transporters. These forms were then used at checkpoints to show illegal transportation of sand and gravel as authorised, allowing hundreds of truckloads to pass unchecked and causing substantial revenue loss to the Punjab Government, he said.Police investigations have so far traced around 450-500 fake Q Forms, pointing to the scale at which illegal mining operations were facilitated in Ropar and Garshankar area of Hoshiarpur district. Nine mobile phones and two laptops have been recovered from the accused, and digital evidence related to website hosting, login credentials, payment trails and user data is being scrutinised.Q Forms are official electronic transit permits issued by the Mines and Geology Department, mandatory for transporting sand, gravel and other minor minerals. The forms contain details of the mining source, quantity of material, destination and vehicle number, and are meant to ensure lawful mining, royalty collection and effective monitoring of mineral movement.When contacted, the Rupnagar SSP said that further inquiry is under way to identify transporters, stone crusher owners and other beneficiaries who used the fake Q Forms generated through the bogus website. The police are also verifying vehicle movement records and financial transactions to dismantle the entire network supporting illegal mining.The SSP said that strict action will be taken not only against those who forged digital permits but also against all those who used them to profit from illegal mining in the district.What are Q formsQ Forms are official electronic transit permits issued by the Mines and Geology Department, mandatory for transporting sand, gravel and other minor minerals. The forms contain details of the mining source, quantity of material, destination and vehicle number, and are meant to ensure lawful mining, royalty collection and effective monitoring of mineral movement.
