In a major action against the sand mafia, a special team of
the district administration on Friday carried out raids on
riverbed Benapur-II under Basta tehsil and seized 17 dumpers, four JCB
machines and a tractor, the total worth of which was around Rs 8 crore.
Acting on a complaint, district Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy had
formed a special enforcement team; and without informing the tehsil
staffs of Basta as the complaint specifically mentioned the illegal sand
lifting is done in connivance with tehsil staffs, the raid was conducted.
Even Chakravathy had obtained pictures of sand lifting through GPS.
It was learnt that the licence period of the lessee who was awarded
with a quarry of 16-acre perimeter for five years had expired before one
year but he was still lifting sand and smuggling it to West Bengal
through hundreds of trucks.