Illegally excavated sand worth Rs 91L seized in Mundra, one detained

Rajkot: In a major crackdown on sand mafia, Kutch police seized an illegally excavated cache of sand worth Rs 90.66 lakh in Mundra on Saturday.
“We caught the accused, identified as Qasam Turk, with two earth movers and three dumpers while he was taking out stolen sand from the bed of Surai River on the outskirts of Dhrab village near Mundra and transporting the supply in the dumpers,” said an official from Mundra police station.
“We have contacted the mines and minerals department officials who will lodge an official complaint against Turk. During his interrogation, Turk confessed that he was carrying out sand theft on behalf of the members of sand mafia,” the official said.
The mines and minerals department officials are in the process of tracing the owner of the dumpers and earth movers on the basis their registration numbers.
The names of many high profile people are likely to crop up during the investigation, added the official.