Sohrabuddin Sheikh does not ring a bell here. “We read about him in news. But what has he got to do with Alwar? He was killed in Gujarat,” comes the reply from Raj Kumar, owner of Navkar Marbles, when Sheikh’s name is brought up in conversation.

Only Alwar connection that seems to be disquieting for miners here and draws an almost instant response is the arrest of disgraced Alwar Superintendent of Police Dinesh M N. The IPS officer was arrested following disclosure of his role in the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh along with two other Gujarat Police officers.

“He was a great officer!” Arvind Goel of Krishna Marbles said. Dinesh spent just about a fortnight here as SP Alwar. So what makes traders here hold him in such high esteem despite serious allegations that he is facing? “We have heard about him. He was in Udaipur earlier and had done a commendable job. Everyone has a good word to say about him. He would have changed the crime graph here,” said Goel.

But when asked whether traders feel unsafe in the city and that things need to be improved, the reply is hesitant. “No, the city is largely peaceful except a few minor incidents here and there. But when you get a good officer you feel much secure,” Praveen Aggarwal, another marble miner and trader, said.

The mention of Sohrabuddin’s amongst traders and miners here draws a blank or rather an indifferent response. “He was a criminal and was killed by SP Dinesh. It is for the government to find out whether he was an extortionist. He might have made extortion calls to traders in other parts of Rajasthan but not here in Alwar as far as my knowledge is concerned,” said Pramod Kumar Jain of PK Marbles. There is a strong connection that is emerging between the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin near Ahmedabad in November 2005 and the marble rich belt of Rajasthan, which includes areas like Alwar, Pali, Udaipur, Kishangarh and Rajnagar.

... contd.