Police book four cases against illegal sand miners in Trichy

Trichy: In a crackdown on illegal sand mining, the district police booked four cases against sand miners under sections of IPC and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, on Friday.
Manikandam police received information from village administrative officer (VAO) Krishnapriya of K Sathanur south that illegal sand mining was carried out on Koraiyar riverbed at Sengurichi.A police team visited the spot and found an earth mover and a tipper truck filled with three units of sand. Police said the culprits who are yet to be identified managed to escape when they spotted them. Police seized the vehicles.
In the Kattuputhur area, police spotted a man stealing sand from the Cauvery riverbed at M Puthur. P Mathivanan, 45, fled the spot leaving a bullock cart filled with quarter unit of sand, police said. The cart was seized.
In another case, Kattuputhur police found a man filling up a bullock cart with sand from the Cauvery riverbed at Chinnapallipalayam. Police booked N Thargan, 40, and seized the cart with sand. Thargan escaped, police said.
Thottiyam police intercepted a truck carrying 80 bags of illegally mined sand during a vehicle check near Kolakudipatti on Friday. Police booked D Balakumar, 25, from Ariyenampettai, N Jayasuriya, 23, from Kallupatti, S Suriya, 25, from Alakarai west and Ajith. All of them escaped, police said. The truck was seized.