Udupi: In a week-long drive against unlawful sand extraction and transport, Udupi district police registered several cases, seized multiple vehicles, and arrested prime suspects.
On August 11, acting on intelligence about sand being transported from Yadtadi to Heradi, Brahmavar police stopped a tipper tempo. The driver, identified as Amruth S., was found carrying 1.5 units of sand worth approximately ₹8,000 without a valid permit. A case was booked.
Earlier, on August 7, Brahmavar police flagged down a TATA tipper near the Kukkude ISF factory. The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled, leaving behind less than one unit of wet sand.
At Kundapur, on August 5, police raided the Panchagangavalli riverbank at Church Road in Kasaba village, where sand was being loaded into two vehicles. Each contained 40 plastic bags of sand, valued at around ₹2,000. Two men from Kundapur taluk — Sujan Sarang (35) and Nikhil (30) — were taken into custody.
In Shankaranarayana, on August 9, three tipper lorries holding a combined nine units of sand worth ₹45,000 were seized from Bakude in Kulunje village. The lorries, valued at ₹18 lakh, were allegedly operated by Charan Hegde, Mahesh Haladi, and Sudheer Hegde for illegal transport from the Shedimane river. On August 11, Charan Hegde was arrested near Tharekate in Belve village.
All confiscated sand and vehicles are now in police custody, with investigations ongoing.