Nayab tehsildar, cops and revenue officials pose as villagers for raid on sand mafia operating in Shirur's Ghodnadi basin
Nayab tehsildar, cops and revenue officials pose as villagers for raid on sand mafia operating in Shirur's Ghodnadi basin
Dressed as poor villagers, a nayab tehsildar, a police inspector, a few constables and five talatis descended upon a gang of sand excavators at the Ghodnadi river basin in Inamgaon near Shirur on Wednesday. The raiding party confiscated two JCB machines, three tractors and 50 brass of illegally drawn sand.u00a0The officials arrived in a truck at the spot where sand was being illegally excavated. The raid took place at the same spot where Shirur's former Nayab Tehsildar Dashrath Kale, his office colleagues and a police constable were brutally beaten up in October 2010 by the sand mafia. The raid was carried out by Shirur's current Nayab Tehsildar Atul Mehatre, Police Inspector Ashok Kshirsagar, his constables and five talathi's from the revenue department.
Well prepared
The team, which carried out the raid, was gearing up for it since five days. They conducted several trials for the final raid to be a success. "Earlier, those involved in illegal sand mining would scoot off as soon as they saw as coming. So, we had to return empty-handed many times. That is why this time we decided to change our attire and pose as villagers before carrying out the raid," said Mehatre. "We travelled in a truck carrying bamboos, which was later diverted to the spot where the illegal sand mining was being carried out. Of the two JCB machines seized, one belongs to Nana Phanke from Pimpalkhuti village, and the other to Ganesh Salunkhe from Inamgaon. The three tractors seized were from Wangdari village in Shrigonda taluka."
Action being taken
Nayab Tehsildar Mehatre said the revenue department, the police and the transport department would take independent action against the owners of the seized vehicles. "A penalty of around Rs 23 lakh will be imposed on the suspects. Besides legal action against the vehicle owners, if local politicians are found involved - directly or indirectly - in illegal sand mining, action will be initiated against them in order to disqualify them from their present post," said Mehatre.
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