Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Feb 3: A team of police personnel drawn from anti-rowdy squad and rural police, acting under the leadership of assistant police commissioner (ACP city south) subdivision, found three separate cases in which sand was being extracted illegally and being transported to Kerala.

The team, led by ACP Rama Rao, and rural inspector, Siddagouda H and police sub-inspector, Venkatesh I, along with deputy director of mines and geology department, Padmalshree and official, Murthy, got reliable information about illegal sand extraction going on inside river Falguni and river bank in the land belonging to an individual at Ulaibettu within the taluk. In a joint raid, the officials seized 42 boats, five tipper trucks, a bulldozer and sand collected at the dock. Total worth of these items has been put at Rs 1.2 crore.

After finding that a tipper truck loaded with sand, in violation of licence terms, had been taken towards Arkula, it was taken into custody. Its value has been assessed at Rs 10,20,000. In the other incident, assistant police commissioner of the city (south) division took into custody five tippers in which sand was being taken to Kerala.

Cases of transporting sand in two trucks on the basis of a single licence, transportation of sand without licence at Talapady Devipura, and Kalkatta, were confiscated. Total value of the items confiscated has been estimated at Rs 70 lac.

The sand so seized was handed over to officials in the department of mines and geology.