Five booked for sand mining on Cauvery riverbed

Trichy: Kattuputhur police near Musiri booked five people for illegally mining sand from the Cauvery riverbed on Saturday night. The accused fled in their mini trucks upon spotting police patrol vehicles.During a routine patrol in Kaduvetti village, officers discovered a group extracting riversand. As police moved in to detain them, three mini trucks fled the scene. However, patrol officers recorded the vehicle registration details, and booked cases against A Ajith Kumar, T Dharmaraj, P Hemanath, M Surendran, and R Vairaperumal under BNS Section 303(2) and Section 21(4) of the Mines and Minerals Act.Ajith Kumar, Dharmaraj, and Hemanath were identified as the truck drivers, while Surendran and Vairaperumal owned the vehicles. Police said more than half a unit of sand had been illegally mined. Further investigations are underway to seize the vehicles.