25 held for illegal sand dredging along Thane creek

The drive was carried out by the collector’s office and the revenue department between Kasheli-Diva and Anjur.

In a major crackdown on illegal sand dredging along the Thane creek, the police on Friday, arrested 25 people and seized over three lakh kilograms of sand worth over Rs80 lakh.

Twenty-five people were arrested on Friday for illegal sand dredging along the Thane creek. (HT File)

The drive was carried out by the collector’s office and the revenue department between Kasheli-Diva and Anjur. Twelve accused are absconding.

This is the second time in a month that the departments have nabbed illegal sand miners.

During the drive, the officials seized 15 boats used to transfer sand and 15 suction pumps from each boat.

They also seized 67 brass (3,03,376 kg) of sand during the drive.

VD Bhise, senior inspector, Bhoiwada police station said, “We started the drive at 6am on December 29 from Kasheli, which went on till late at night. Instead of searching for sand storage units on the land, we entered the water and searched for the sand mafias.”

“We have registered three cases and arrested 25 people for the crime. However, 12 of them are still absconding, which includes the mastermind behind the racket,” Bhise added.

The accused were booked under relevant sections of the IPC, Environment Protection Act, Inland Vessels Act and the Indian Ports Act.

On December 20, over 1.67 lakh kgs of sand was seized by the authorities in Thane and Dombivli areas.

The officials had raided areas such as Ganesh ghat, Dombivli, Kalwa and Mumbra (Reti Bunder), Thane.