Patna,(BiharTimes): The Saran district magistrate, Dipak Anand, on Monday night unearthed a sand smuggling racket in which several high ranking district police officials, including the superintendent of police, are reportedly involved.
According to a PTI report from Chapra acting on a tip off the district magistrate caught several sand laden trucks plying without ‘challan’ late on Tuesday night near Chirand under Muffasil police station of the district.
The truckers were provided with a code which for the current month of October was stated by the truckers as a Rs 20 note on the basis of which they had freedom to cross the district with sand despite sand mining being banned in the state.
The district magistrate said he ordered registration of FIR against 20 such truckers and penalised more than 40 others.
Anand said when inquired, most of the drivers alleged the money goes straight to district SP, Pankaj Kumar Raj.
According to the news agency the district magistrate said he would make a recommendation to the state government to institute a high-level inquiry into the entire illegal operation. Asked if SP would be probed, he said it would be decided by the probe team.
The report also said sand from river Sone was transported by country boats to many spots at Dighwara in Saran district. From there, sand was loaded in trucks which ply late at night through Jay Prabha bridge to the neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh like Varanasi, Azamgarh, Gorakhpur etc.
The truckers had to purchase the code (Rs 20 note for current month of October) at a hefty price of about Rs 6,000 per truck, which provided them freedom to move with sand illegally through the district.
