Nagpur: Tension gripped the remote Singardeep ghat along the Kanhan River in Parseoni taluka of Nagpur district for over two hours early Friday morning as villagers caught a sand mafia gang red-handed.Purushottam Dodke, 62, a former village police warden and resident of Singardeep village, had lodged a police complaint about rampant illegal sand mining at the ghat for the last several months. Dodke alleged that heavy tippers and tractors had badly damaged the village roads.On Thursday around 10pm, a truck allegedly damaged an electricity wire while entering the ghat, causing total power failure in the village. Hundreds of villagers rushed to the riverbed and found an excavator loading sand in two 10-wheeler tipper trucks. On seeing the crowd, the truck drivers abandoned their vehicles and fled into the darkness, said police. The excavator operator allegedly tried to driver the machine to the riverbank and cover it with trees and bushes.Sarpanch Deepak Ingole, along with others kept a watch on the abandoned vehicles for over two hours till police arrived.The first truck was fully loaded with sand, extimated worth around ₹40,000, while the second truck was partially loaded with sand worth Rs35,000. Both trucks are valued at Rs25 lakh each, said police. The excavator is estimated to be worth Rs40 lakh. Local residents alleged that the sand mafia has been operating in the night, destroying the river ecosystem and village infrastructure. They urged police to register an FIR under the Mines and Minerals Act, Environment Protection Act and relevant BNS sections against the sand mafia.Kanhan police have identified and registered case against vehicle owners, Duryadhan Patle and Nitin Patle, and the two truck drivers, Mahendra Nagose and Mayur Nerkar. They have been arrested too.Sources said illegal sand mining is causing financial losses to ghat owners. Nagpur Rural police under SP Harssh A Poddar and Addl SP Anil Mhaske have invoked MCOCA against four gangs, including the latest against Kallu Khan.
