Sand mafia attacks cops; three held

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a shocking incident that took place the other day, a team of policemen trying to nab illegal sand miners were attacked by the latter with high- power explosives, from which the former had a narrow escape. The incident happened on Friday night, when the police team was trying to stop a lorry which was carrying illegally mined sand at Thannimmoodu, near Varkala. The police team had gone to Thannimmoodu after receiving a tip-off that illegal sand mining was progressing on the banks of the river in Thannimmoodu. The culprits, as many as 15 of them, unleashed a surprise attack on the police by hurling high-power crude bombs at the police. However, the police eluded the bombs and managed to nab two of the attackers. The arrested were identified as Rakesh, 27, and Umesh, 27, both of them hailing from Cherunniyoor here. The rest managed to escape. The police also arrested a sixty- year-old man, Sathyadevan of Kallambalam, on charges of illegal manufacture and distribution of explosives. All three of them were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.  ‘’The police had foiled several operations of the sand mafia recently. This year itself, we have already seized as many as six lorries that were carrying illegally mined sand,’’ says Attingal Deputy Superintendent of Police K E Baiju. Meanwhile, Varkala Circle Inspector Shaji, who is probing into the case, said that they had raided the warehouse of Sathyadevan at Kallambalam and seized a huge volume of explosives. The police have also found that Sathyadevan, a traditional cracker manufacturer, has been manufacturing explosives in his warehouse with an expired explosives licence. The inspector also said that the police have identified eight more persons involved in the case, whose arrest would be made soon.