Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Jun 26: Officials of mines and geology department have filed an official complaint with the police, alleging that 20 metric tonnes of sand which had been confiscated by the department and was in its custody, relating to illegal sand extraction from River Swarna from near Baje dam area, has been stolen.
On May 16 this year, Lokayukta and mines department had launched a joint operation. They had taken into possession sand that was dredged from the bottom of the river without any authorization. As much as 70 metric tonnes of the sand which was confiscated, was stocked at Hiriadka. A case registered in this connection against Dayanand Mallya and Ashok Jogi representing Yojak India which had extracted sand without permission, is still in the court.
The accused had executed a bond confirming that the sand already extracted would not be transported and the entire heap of dredged sand would be preserved as it is. But when senior geologist of the department along with Udupi tahsildar, revenue inspector and village accountant conducted joint inspection on June 24, they found that 20 tonnes of sand worth Rs 8,000 had been smuggled out of the stand storage, said official of the department, Gautam Shastri, in the said complaint.
Act repeated
The case was registered on Wednesday June 24. On Thursday, the same accused, undaunted by the case, were found to be transporting sand through tempo again. The officials who detected the theft, immediately raided the spot and took into possession the tempo along with a load of sand, the department officials said.
The case is in the court. The officials find it a challenging task to retain the balance 50 metric tonnes of sand that remains in the stock.