A head constable of Madhya Pradesh's Special Armed Force (SAF) was shot at and critically wounded by suspected members of a sand mafia near Morena on Monday, police said.
The bike-borne armed mafia members were escorting tractor-trolleys transporting sand illegally mined from Chambal sanctuary area and were on their way to Morena.
They were challenged by SAF and Forest Department personnel at Devri checkpost on Agra-Mumbai Road, prompting them to open fire, they said.
Head constable Vishwanath was seriously injured in the firing and rushed to Gwalior for treatment, police said.
Police returned fire, but the assailants escaped from the spot along with the illegally-mined sand.
SAF had been deployed at checkposts in the sanctuary area along with forest personnel on the directives of the Gwalior Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to curb sand mining.
In the recent past, SAF and forest officials have come under attack on a couple of occasions when they tried to stop tractor-trolleys loaded with illegally-mined sand.
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