Key Takeaways
- The Enforcement Directorate froze Rs 12.82 crore and seized Rs 2.33 crore in cash.
- Officials recovered over 1 kilogram of gold valued at more than Rs 50 lakh.
- Raids covered 34 locations across six districts, targeting the sand mining mafia.
Chennai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched a crackdown on sand mining mafia in Tamil Nadu.
The agency conducted raids at multiple locations on September 12, freezing Rs 12.82 crore and seizing Rs 2.33 crore in unaccounted cash.
In addition, officers recovered 1,204.6 grams of gold worth more than Rs 50 lakhs.
The raids were held at 34 locations including eight sand mining yards in six districts of the State in connection with illegal sand mining case.
In an update, ED said “it carried out searches at 34 locations including eight sand mining yards on 12/09/2023 in 6 districts of Tamil Nadu, residential and business premises of various persons including sand mining contractors S.Ramachandran, K. Rathinam and Karikalan and their accomplices, Auditor P. Shanmugaraj, officials of Water Resources Deptt, Govt. of Tamil Nadu in illegal sand mining case.”
“During the search, various incriminating documents were found, Rs 12.82 Cr. was put under freeze & unaccounted cash for Rs 2.33 Crore, gold weighing 1024.6 grams worth Rs 56.86 Lakh were seized”, the ED said.
Evidences of bogus transactions and benami companies were found during the raids, it said, adding, the total amount of sand mined were also being ascertained and the number of lorries used to carry the illegally mined sand were also being analysed through the CCTV footages.
