Q7. Dealing with the Sand Mafia
Sunil is a young civil servant and has a reputation for his competence, integrity, dedication and relentlessness in pursuit of difficult and onerous jobs. Considering his profile, he was picked up by his bosses to handle a very challenging and sensitive assignment. He was posted in a tribal-dominated district notorious for illegal sand mining. Excavating sand from river belts and transporting it through trucks and selling them in the black market was rampant. This illegal sand mining mafia was operating with the support of local functionaries and tribal musclemen who in turn were bribing selected poor tribals and had kept the tribals under fear and intimidation.
Sunil being a sharp and energetic officer immediately grasped the ground realities and the modus operandi followed by the mafia through their devious and dubious mechanism. On making inquiries, he gathered that some of their own office employees are in hand and glove with them and have developed close unholy nexus. Sunil initiated stringent action against them and started conducting raids on their illegal operations of the movement of trucks filled with sand. The mafia got rattled as not many officers in the past had taken such strong steps against the mafia. Some of the office employees who were allegedly close to the mafia informed them that the officer is determined to clean up the mafia's illegal sand mining operations in that district and may cause them irreparable damage.
The mafia turned hostile and launched a counter-offensive. The tribal musclemen and mafia started threatening him with dire consequences. His family (wife and old mother) were stalked and were under virtual surveillance and thus causing mental torture, agony and stress to all of them. The matter assumed serious proportions when a muscleman came to his office and threatened him to stop raids etc., otherwise, his fate will not be different than some of his predecessors (ten years back one officer was killed by the mafia)
a) Identify the different options available to Sunil in attending this situation
b) Critically evaluate each of the options listed by you.
c) Which of the above, do you think, would be most appropriate for Sunil to adopt and why? (Answer in 250 words)
In this case, Sunil is doing his duty as a civil servant despite all odds. He is also facing a threat to life himself and his family. His different options with their pros and cons are as follows-
In my option, option 3 is the only suitable option for Sunil. As a civil servant, Sunil must perform his jobs without any fear of favour. He must collect strong evidence against the sand mafia and arrest the kingpins as soon as possible. However, he must take all precautions to protect his family. He must record the conversation with the mafia and lodge an FIR with the police against the people threatening him. He must never compromise with his integrity and never waver from performing his duties. (252 words)
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