Trichy: 6 sand miners held for attacking village assistant

KARUR: A woman village assistant was attacked by a gang of eight illegal sand miners when she tried to catch them near Kulithalai in Karur district late on Thursday. Police arrested six people including two juveniles in this connection. Acting on a tip, village assistant of Mettu Marudhur village near Kulithalai, Pragalatha, 38, and a few others were patrolling along the Cauvery river late in the night when they saw eight people carrying stolen sand on their bikes and dumping it in Metu Marudhur colony. When she intercepted and questioned them, they attacked her and pushed her down causing injuries to her hand. The gang also threatened her with dire consequences.
Her colleagues rushed her to the government hospital in Kulithalai where she was admitted. The revenue officials filed a complaint with the Kulithalai police which identified the accused and interrogated them. The accused were identified as J Ranjith alias Kutty, 21, T Rahul, 20, P Premkumar, 19, S Surya, 19 and two juveniles from Mettu Marudhur. The police booked them under eight sections on charges of rioting, theft, assault on public servant, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation under IPC and also under the illegal mining of mines and minerals (development and regulation) Act. All the arrested people were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody. The police were on the hunt for two more accused involved in the attack on the woman servant.
Taking note of the incident, Karur superintendent of police (SP) V Vikraman issued a strict warning against illegal sand miners. He also said that people could directly contact him to inform about such crimes.