Kashinagar: The local administration has cracked down on illegal sand smugglers of Gajapati district.
On being informed, a joint team consisting of Kashinagar tehsildar Shantiswarup Mishra and local police raided the area where sand was being mined illegally and seized five 18-wheeler sand-laden trucks. Later, the seized trucks were brought to tehsil office premises and Rs 1,25,000 was collected as fines from the wrongdoers.
It is known that sand is illegally being lifted through JCB machines and smuggled to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh from the riverbank of Bansadhara at Kashinagar.
According to sources, the trucks were loading sand from Purutiguda ramp and unloading at Purutiguda, as mentioned in R-Form. Similarly, the documents of Government of Odisha were found forged and tampered, as the space on delivery challan to mention inter-state transportations was erased intentionally, said the tehsildar.
Moreover, although trucks were given permission for transporting only five cubic feet of sand, the smugglers were transporting unlimited truckloads of sand to Andhra Pradesh. It was learnt as the sand quality of Bansadhara river is very high it is in demand in AP.
The administrative-police action was the result of a tip-off given by some local activists like G Tirupati Rao, K Madhu and others.
PNN