TOI Sting Op On Sand Mafia Busts Dirty Cartel

Nagpur: With sand excavation still illegal due to pending environmental clearance, the real estate explosion in the city and its increasing demand for sand is being clandestinely met by a mafia network that straddles Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra. Sand worth crores of rupees is being illegally dumped and sold in Nagpur by gangs, who are adequately equipped with money and muscle.The sand mafia’s growing notoriety is reflected in back-to-back attacks on revenue officials over the last 48 hours. A TOI sting operation on Tuesday unearthed the mafia’s well-oiled machinery and how they bribe law enforcement agencies and muscle their way out with big consignments.

Sand-laden trucks driving out of ghats and headed to their destinations are accompanied by ‘escort’ jeeps. Also, there are ‘watch vehicles’ that patrol the route ahead of the entourage and truckers await their green signal before navigating the bend to avoid a police ambush or an interception team of revenue officials. In the recent mafia attacks, it was the escort and watch teams that targeted revenue officials.Nagpur collector Vipin Itankar said 40 ghats have been auctioned for three consecutive financial years up to 2026. “Environmental clearance is expected soon. We are hoping to begin legal excavation at ghats by bona fide sand traders,” he said. Though the spurt in mafia attacks is being cited as a ploy to avoid steep fines of ₹2-3 lakh, insiders say the aggression was meant to send out a message to revenue department officials to either join their nexus or face consequences. Posing as a potential sand transporter, TOI called up a mafia member and the conversation caught on tape reflects the scale of illegal business in the city. The gang member said around 100-150 truckloads of sand regularly leave for Nagpur from the Mahalgaon ghat in Gondia, where they pay up at least ₹50,000 to cops and revenue department as bribe for easy passage. As per the audio clip, Arjuni Morgaon in Gondia is a rich source for sand. He also admitted to coughing up Rs 500 to patrolling cops, whenever they are stopped. Sources stated the Wainganga river basin near Ambhora in Bhandara, Chanduri ghat in Umred and Kanhan river are key sources of sand for the mafia, who smuggle their consignment in Nagpur before daybreak. “Sand from Madhya Pradesh or Bhandara enters city through Adyaliphata on Umred road. Some trucks also take the service road along Outer Ring Road to enter the city from smaller colonies in the outskirts after crossing the Mahalgaon Kapsi junction on Bhandara Road,” said a gang member. “Sand transporters also take the Koradi Road while coming from Saoner,” he said. A revenue official said, some transporters pay royalty and also possess transit passes, but they violate norms. “The royalty paid by the sand mafia loads is only half of the quantity loaded in trucks. They also pay royalty for one ghat and excavate sand from others,” said the revenue official. Sources stated maximum transporters are from Kamptee who engage with sand mafia while Kharbi, Pardi, Wathoda, Teka and other places in north Nagpur are hubs. Crackdown by Nagpur rural police at Mouda also revealed that sand transporters are using fake registration plates.