Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (EP)

Beltangady, May 13: Six men were arrested by the Dharmastala police for undertaking illegal sand mining at the Netravati river banks in Beltangady taluk with the help of a dredging machine attached to a boat. The arrest was made by the sub-inspector of Dharmasthala police station along with his staff while on rounds on Thursday, May 12 at 6 pm.

The accused were also found to have been ferrying sand in their vehicles without a license. The arrested men are identified as Sandesh, Jayanth, Rakshit, Avinash, Keshav and Sharif.

The police have confiscated the dredging machine attached to the boat,  Escorts hydraulic crane, a towing vehicle bearing the registration number KA 19 AD 0276, a Maruti Omni car with registration KA 21 P 1503, a Maestro scooter with registration number KA 21 Y 9488, an Activa bike with registration number KA 21 S 6663, a TVS Apache motorcycle with a registration number KA 21 S 1549 and about 20 tonnes of sand.

The total value of the seized items is estimated to be Rs 31.36 lac. A case under registration number 27/2021 and Section 42, 43, 44 of requisite acts, Section 4(1), 4(1)A and 21(1)(1A) and Section 379, 34 of the IPC is registered against the accused.