Village officer locked up by sand mafia

Arun Arsha, village officer of Mayyil, is a wiser man now. He was locked up in his office for three hours a week ago by the sand mafia who took away the lorry seized by him for illegal mining of sand at Mayyil. His Facebook post on his plight has gone viral with hundreds coming to his support. He said the criminals’ act had made him unsure of being honest and truthful. The gang took away the keys of the vehicle from his draw, showered abuses on him and threatened him with dire consequences for his action. According to Mr Arun, none from his department supported him orquestioned the criminal act of the gang. “I am humiliated now and I nolonger want to continue in the same place. So I am giving my transferapplication,” he said. His mistake was to decline the temptations offered by the criminals, he added.

“Illegal sand miners enjoy the support of the higher authorities. The sand mining will destroy the river beds. I even had to take back the complaint filed against the gang due to the pressure from the authorities,” he lamented.