The rural police have registered 134 cases in the last four months (September 2023 to January this year), which is 139% more than in the same period in 2022.
The cops have also seized sand, vehicles and other materials worth over ₹21 crore in the last four months, which is again 62% higher than the corresponding period in 2022.
Collector Vipin Itankar has recently auctioned 40 sand ghats in Nagpur district, and created 11 depots to stock sand, increasing availability of legal sand from authorized suppliers. This has left the sand mafia in a tizzy. “Since sand is now available from legitimate sources, revenue department is gearing up to come down heavily on racketeers selling smuggled sand,” said Itankar adding, “This year we have legal excavation permissions till June, which means that there would be no dearth of sand.”
SP Nagpur rural Harssh A Poddar has prepared a two-pronged plan. “Police will take action against thefts and cheating by sand mafia. The revenue department will impose fines,” said the SP.
The sand mafia is also plying with fake royalty documents to pass check nakas. Poddar had registered two cases of cheating under section 420 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Kanhan police station against such sand mafia. “Nagpur rural police will ensure zero tolerance against those making and using fake royalty papers,” said Poddar, adding surprise random nakabandis have been planned in the district.
Poddar said that each police station has been told to conduct at least three nakabandis at any time and place in a week. “After deploying a surprise check naka, a fleet of sand mafia trucks were seized at Bhiwapur. They were coming from Pauni,” said Poddar adding that overloaded trucks are being referred to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) for imposing appropriate fines.
Poddar said that the arrest of sand mafia kingpins, Lateef Ansari and Yogesh Gokhe, too has sent a strong message. Gokhe, with a string of offences against him for sand theft, was booked under the stringent Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act.
Sources said that many vehicles with smuggled sand enter Nagpur city via Kapsi Khurd and Hingna in the early hours of the day. “The vehicles enter before 5am or 6am to avoid being checked, and generally start from the source after midnight. They also have an escort vehicle piloting the sand truck, to alert the driver if cops or check nakas are present on the way,” said the source.