The suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Uttra Pradesh Government has annoyed the common people as well as the representatives of different officer lobbies throughout the country. Nagpal, who had shown courage and dared to stop the illegal sand mining while performing her duty as the Divisional Magistrate in Gautam Budh Nagar of Uttra Pradesh, was suspended by the state government some days ago. But the controversy has put the UP Government on back foot. This controversy has increased the pressure on the state government manifolds and brought a lot of embarrassment for the government. Though, the state government led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has been facing strong criticism over the issue, it government seems immovable and it has not revoked its decision the despite repeated demand by the public as well as the representatives of different associations of officers. The suspension of Nagpal by UP Government has scared the officials working at various places in Punjab too. The sand mining is taking place at various places throughout the state. This has made the authorities reluctant to take action against powerful and illegal sand mining lobbies. According to sources, the illegal mining of sand has been going on unchecked at various places near the Sutlej. "Though the authorities are well aware of the practice, yet they do not take any action against such people as the people involved in the illegal mining have links with senior leaders of the state government," said sources. Gurmit Singh, SDM, Jagraon, said the administration was in constant touch with the Mining Department officials as well as the police to stop the illegal mining near Sutlej. "Whenever we receive information about it, we immediately conduct raids. Several cases have been registered against many persons in this regard. We have impounded my transporting vehicles and machines," said the SDM.