A decorated Forest Ranger was crushed by a dumper truck which was illegally transporting soil in Rajasthan, officials said on Tuesday.

Forest Ranger Pratap Singh Chundawat (40), was chasing the dumper on his Royal Enfield motorcycle, when he was crushed by the dumper around midnight on Monday. He was rushed to the Nimbahera government hospital where he died on Tuesday during treatment.

The incident took place in Pratapgarh district’s Choti Sadri police station limits in the forest area near Ghatiwale Balaji temple.

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Pratapgarh Deputy SP Rameshwar Lal told , “Late on Monday the forest team received information that soil was being illegally mined from a forest area. The team immediately reached the spot and found a JCB and a dumper at work. Seeing the forest team, the dumper truck escaped. However, Chudawant, not a person to let go of the dumper, began to chase it on his motorcycle. As others (co-accused) caught up, they provoked the dumper driver to crush the officer by saying ‘charha de iske upar’ (crush him). The driver allegedly ran over the officer and escaped. The driver has been identified as Kana Bawri.”

An FIR has been lodged under relevant sections for murder, illegal mining, obstructing a public servant in discharge of public function, theft from forest land, etc., the DSP said, adding, “The JCB and the dumper have been seized and some persons, including the owner and driver of the JCB machine, have also been detained. We are questioning them.”

The DSP said that as per the FIR, there were about 5-6 persons involved in illegal digging when the three forest personnel reached the spot initially. “Forest guards Suresh and Ajay were accompanying Pratap. Later, they called other personnel to the spot,” he said.

The DSP said that the earth which was being excavated is a thick, ‘gaara’ type mud used to make bricks or plaster and fill gaps in houses.

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Pratapgarh Superintendent of Police Vishal Jangid also reached the spot on Tuesday and took stock of the situation.

Officials said Chundawat’s body was handed over to his family members after autopsy for cremation which took place at his native village in the adjacent Chittorgarh district.

Describing Chundawat as a multi-faceted personality, Pratapgarh Deputy Conservator of Forest, Suresh Agrawal, said “Pratap Singh Chundawat was our best officer.”

Speaking to from the cremation site, he said, “We had nominated him for the state level award on the occasion of Independence Day this year. He had also received several awards at the district and division level. He was actively involved in wildlife rescue, especially panthers, pythons, etc. His work in nurseries and plantations had also yielded good results and he was active in games too, including swimming and shooting.”

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Agrawal said that Pratap had been posted in the district for around two years. “We will send a proposal to the government to give him the status of a martyr,” he said.

Terming Chundawat’s death as “extremely heartbreaking” Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra said, “This is not merely the murder of an officer; it is an open challenge to the law-and-order system in Rajasthan. The question is, how has the mining mafia in the state become so fearless that it no longer fears even taking the lives of government officials?”

On the eve of World Environment Day on June 5, Chundawat was honoured in Jaipur by Rajasthan Environment and Energy Conservation Centre for “outstanding contributions to forest and wildlife conservation”. He was awarded for his remarkable work in wildlife rescue, environmental protection, forest encroachment removal, and forest protection, with the region seeing “significant improvements under his leadership”.