Police foil river sand smuggling bid, seize truck

Krishnagiri: The Mathur police seized a tipper truck smuggling river sand in their jurisdiction in the early hours of Saturday.According to an official source, Mathur police inspector Venkatesh Prabhu and team were on night patrol in the Penukondapuram village area on Friday, when they stopped a tipper truck for inspection. "The driver said the truck was transporting M-sand. When the team asked the driver for permit letter to transport M-sand, he gave contradictory answers, raising suspicion."The team subsequently checked the load and found the truck was carrying river sand with a thin layer of M-sand on top to mislead police. Meanwhile, the driver abandoned the truck and escaped. Police subsequently took the tipper truck to their station.Initial investigation revealed that the truck was owned by M Tirupathi, 48, a sand smuggler from Mathur area. "Just three days ago, another tipper truck belonging to him was caught for sand smuggling," the inspector said.Local villagers alleged that sand was being illegally mined from Nadupattu river in Ramakrishnampathy village near Mathur at night. Social activists expressed concerns over illegal sand mining and urged officials to take steps to end the same.