Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal

Bantwal, May 4: The police busted an illegal sand mining racket being operated on the banks of River Netravati and seized sand and machinery costing over Rs 1.65 crore on Friday, May 3.

A team of illegal miners were busy extracting sand from the backwaters of river Netravati at Padu village. They were dredging using Hitachi machinery and once the sand was obtained, they filtered the same and illegally transported it to sell at a higher price.

The Bantwal police received a tip off and a team led by ASP Saidulu Adavath raided the spot while the dredging work was taking place.

Upon seeing the police, the illegal sand miners fled from the spot and left all the machinery and vehicles behind. The police seized three tipper lorries, two Hitachi dredging machines, a generator, a unit used to filter sand and 35 loads of illegally extracted sand. The total cost of the seized items is around Rs 1.65 crore.

Bantwal circle inspector Sharanegowda, Bantwal Rural Police Station sub-inspector Prasanna M S, constables Hanumantha, Umesh, Kumar, Nazeer, Naganath, Ajit Bangera, Kiran participated in the raid.

Further action will be taken by the department of mines and geology, the police informed.

However residents of the village claim that illegal mining is happening in Padu village since many years. "Once in a while the police do a drama of raid and seize items. However, this has never stopped the illegal miners," a local complained.