Three held for illegal sand mining from Palar river

Three persons were arrested by Kandali and Ponnai police for illegal sand mining from the dry river bed of Palar in Tirupattur and Vellore districts on Tuesday. 

Police said the arrested persons R. Mariappan, 32, C. Suriya, 30, and N. Velu, 29, belong to Kakangarai village in Tirupattur, and Velur is a resident of Vellore.

In the first incident, police said that based on alert, a special police team was patrolling Natrampalli - Tirupattur Main Road near Tirupattur town, when the team got a tip-off that a gang was illegally mining sand on the dry Palar river bed. Immediately, police rushed to the spot and rounded up Mariappan and Suriya, who were drivers of a tipper lorry and an earthmover respectively. The duo was uploading sand in the tipper lorry at the time of the incident. Investigation revealed that the illegally mined sand was meant to be sold to private builders in the district. A case was registered and Kandali police seized the tipper lorry and the earth mover.

In another incident, a police team nabbed Velu, an electrician, when they noticed him on a two-wheeler with two bags on Ponnai - Tiruvalam Main Road in Vellore. When police checked the bags, they found river sand. Velu told police that he mined the sand from the riverbed. Ponnai police registered a case against him. Further probe is under way.