The Bhiwapur police and local crime branch team of Nagpur Rural have dealt a significant blow to the sand mafia by intercepting a sand-laden tipper and arresting three individuals. The operation, conducted on Thursday night, led to the seizure of valuables worth Rs 61 lakh.
Background of the Crackdown
Under the supervision of SP Rural Harssh A Poddar, the rural police initiated a crackdown on the illegal sand racket, which is believed to be causing substantial revenue loss to the state. The gang was involved in illegally extracting and transporting sand from riverbeds across the Vidarbha region.
Modus Operandi
Investigators discovered that the racket operated a fleet of sand trucks using fake royalty documents, resulting in revenue losses amounting to crores of rupees. The gang shared real-time movements of police and revenue department teams on WhatsApp groups, allowing them to evade checkpoints effectively.
The Raid
On Thursday, police received a tip-off that a 12-wheeler tipper was illegally transporting sand from the Pauni area, guided by a car. The vehicles approaching from Bhiwapur Road were stopped at a blockade set up near Kargaon Railway in Bhiwapur.
The tipper was found loaded with nine brass of sand. The driver, Kaiser Ali, produced documents that later turned out to be fake. The vehicle owner, Aziz Sheikh, from Kharbi, allegedly admitted to running the illegal sand transportation racket. The car driver, Mohd Inazul alias Kallu Khan, was nabbed on the spot. He has two cases of attempt to murder registered against him—one in Nagpur and another in Pauni, Bhandara district.
Ongoing Investigation
The rural team, under Addl SP Anil Mhaske, is now probing the links of the accused with other sand mafia syndicates that allegedly use muscle power and political patronage to dominate illegal mining activities. A case has been registered by Bhiwapur police, and the accused were remanded to police custody (PCR) until April 28.
