By Our Reporter A 24-year-old youth who has spearheaded protests against the illegal extraction of aggregates and sand from a local river, was murdered by the ‘crusher mafia’ in Dhanusha. Om Prakash Mahato aka Dilip was crushed by a tipper truck along the Aaurahi River in Mithila Municipality-5, Dhanusha Friday morning. The Aaurahi river is surrounded by farmland, some of it belonging to Dilip. The crusher industry operating in the area has been extracting aggregates from the river in the evenings with the help of heavy machinery. This has jeopardized the farmland. “The crusher operators crushed my brother to death for raising his voice against the illegal extraction of aggregates from the Aaurahi,” said Birendra Kumar Mahato, elder brother of the deceased. According to Area Police Office, Dhalkebar, the truck that killed Dilip has been identified as Na 7 Kha 6413. The driver is under police control. Dilip’s sister Laxmi Mahato claimed that he was killed by crusher operator Bipin Mahato. “My brother was beaten to death. He was then crushed by the tipper truck wheels,” she said. At 4 am on Friday, Dilip, Roshan Yadav and Shyam Yadav, chair of ward 5, went for a morning walk toward the riverside. Suddenly, Shyam received a call and he went away leaving Dilip and Roshan behind. Roshan was feeling unwell and walking slowly while Dilip walked faster and was way ahead. When Roshan reached near the river, Dilip had already been crushed to death. Police nabbed proprietor of a crusher industry Bipin Mahato on the charge of murdering Dilip Mahato.