BHOPAL: Prashann Singh, a Madhya Pradesh revenue official, was crushed to death under a tractor by sand mining mafia in Shahdol district late Saturday.Police arrested tractor driver Shubham Vishwakarma (22), and the vehicle owner, Narayan Singh, both residents of Maihar.

They were booked for murder, Shahdol ADG DC Sagar said.Prashann Singh, 40, was a patwari in Beohari revenue division.An ex-serviceman, he was an honest and diligent official of the revenue department, said his seniors.

The murder, which took place at Gopalpur village on the banks of River Son, 565km east of Bhopal, around 11pm Saturday, was the latest in a string of horrific attacks by the mining mafia on police personnel and other government employees.“On November 23, we launched an intense drive against illegal mining and transportation of sand.

This unfortunate incident took place on the third day,” district collector Vandana Vaidya said.On Saturday, an SDM, mining officials, four patwaris and police personnel carried out an operation in Gopalpur till 8.30pm and made seizures, said the collector.

“Around 11pm, Prashann Singh and the three other patwaris went back to the village for an inspection, since illegal mining and transportation is usually carried out at night.

They had gone just to have a look but the tractor driver ran Prashann over,” Vaidya said.Sources said Prashann told the tractor driver to stop, but he rammed him and ran over his body.

His head was crushed and he died on the spot.