NAGAPATTINAM: Three VAOs were assaulted and threatened by a gang allegedly involved in sand smuggling on Thursday. S Arul Aravind (25), VAO in charge of Mahathanam near Nagapattinam, and two other VAOs, were assaulted by a group of villagers when they tried to stop sand mining from Kaduvaiyaru river near Velankanni.
Police said Aravind received a tip off around 7.30 am and rushed to the spot just in time to intercept a tractor-trailer loaded with sand and impounded the keys. The driver M Ramar informed others. The sand was to be transported to an ‘illegal’ brick kiln run by B Subramanian in the village.
Sensing trouble after the driver informing people, Aravind called Pappakovil VAO P Sabarinathan and Sembianmahadevi VAO P Karuppasamy for help. Even as Aravind recorded the events around him on his mobile phone, a villager allegedly released the hook of the tipper to release the sand.
“First, they tried to bribe me. But I refused to back down. A group of dozens led by the 55-year-old local strongman T Balakrishnan started gathering around me and abused my colleagues who had just arrived. Balakrishnan and his three sons threatened us.
A Sub Inspector from Velankanni Police Station arrived around 10 am. After realising it was just three of us, and the SI, they assaulted us,” Aravind told TNIE. Meanwhile, police sub-inspector C Devabalan called for backup. Sensing arrival of more police officers, the group took off with the tipper tractors except the one owned by Ramar.
The drama continued in the Velankanni Police Station. Finally, a case was registered based on Arul Aravind’s complaint against Balakrishnan, his three sons, brick kiln owner Subramanian and driver Ramar. Ramar was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Others are absconding.
A narrow escape for tahsildar in Tirupattur district
Tirupattur: A tahsildar in Tirupttur district, had a narrow escape from the hands of sand smugglers, when he went alone to inspect the illegal activity near Palar river on Thursday night. C Padmanabhan, the tahsildar of Ambur, went on a two wheeler to the spot between Veerankuppam and Alankuppam near Ambur, after he received tip-off from the district collector. “When I went close and stopped bullock carts with sand, I was intercepted by the smugglers. I fled the spot, but soon the police reached,” he said on Friday. Subsequently, the police seized the carts. Two cases of sand smuggling were registered by Ambur Taluk police based on a complaint lodged by the tahsildar. Two people named Rajesh and Vignesh were held on Friday. Meanwhile, the Oomerabad police registered three cases and arrested Rajasekar, Murali and Durai, a police officer said. Another case was registered by the Ambur Town police who had seized a tractor with sand.