The police claims it doesn’t get the cooperation it needs from the PWD, mining and revenue departments to curb illegal sand mining rampant in the river beds of Kancheepuram , Vellore, Karur among other parts of the state.
Although cops claims to have acted against sand smugglers last year by seizing more than 2500 lorries and arresting a good number of those involved, it says wiping out sand mafia is not possible without the help of the other departments.
“When we found a DMK heavyweight in Karur was behind illegal sand quarrying on about 60 acres there, to our shock no officer from any of the three departments was ready to lodge a complaint. They were not even saying the sand was being looted by unidentified gangs,” says a senior cop.
Some bold officials, who have dared to take on the sand mafia have been badly injured in the process as it usually enjoys very strong political backing, observes another top cop.
“We see protests now and again against sand mining. But most of them die down indicating that the mafia can buy, arm-twist and threaten officials,” he adds.
Hinting at a possible nexus between some government officials and sand mafia, some officials admit it is not tough to detect illegal mining or put an end to it .
“A lot of officials are aware where illegal quarrying is being done because of the growing construction industry that is ready to pay any amount of money,” says an activist .