Raid on illegal sand mining: items worth Rs 1.2 crore seized

A team of police personnel from Mangaluru rural and south police stations along with Mines department officials raided a private dockyard near here and seized items, including sand, worth Rs 1.2 crore, police said Monday.

The raid was conducted at the dockyard in Ulaibettu on Saturday.

The team was led by assistant commissioner of police Rama Rao and Mining director Padmashri, the sources said.

A total of 42 boats, five tipper trucks, a bulldozer and heaps of sand piled up at the yard were seized.

The total value of seized items including sand was estimated at Rs 1.2 crore.

The police acted on a tip that sand extraction was going on at the CRZ area near Phalguni river.

In a separate case, police also seized a truck laden with sand proceeding towards Arkula in the district.

The sand was extracted from Thumbay and the value of seized items was assessed at Rs 10.2 lakh, the sources said.

The seized sand has been handed over to the department of Mines and Geology.