Amid focus on illegal sand mining in Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh following suspension of IAS officer Durga Sakthi Nagpal, Delhi BJP leader V K Malhotra alleged that sand mafia was active in Delhi also as sand is being excavated illegally on Yamuna river bank near Okhla.
"Thousands of truck loads of sand is being excavated illegally from Badarpur Khadar village to Okhla and are being sold every month with the connivance of government officials," he alleged.
A senior Delhi Government official, however, rejected the allegations as "totally baseless".
"The sand mafia's nefarious activities in Gautam Budh Nagar have been exposed due to suspension of IAS Officer Durga Shakti Nagpal but the illegal trade of sand business is going on in Delhi for the past several years," he said in a statement.