Moodabidri: Illegal large-scale granite mining on govt. land unearthed

Moodabidri: Officials of the Department of Mines and Geology raided an illegal granite mining site operating on government land at Tandrakere Gampadadka in Padumarnadu Village of the taluk on Sunday night.

A team led by Moodabidri tehsildar Puttaraju along with officials of the mines and geology department conducted the raid and seized assets of huge value.

It is gathered that the mining had been going on for about three weeks. Arrangements were made to access the government land from an adjacent private plot. So, many locals thought the mining was being done on Patta land.

Sources said that the granite mined here was transported to areas outside the state.

During the raid, a lorry driver who was on-site tried to flee with the granite-laden lorry. But, the authorities chased after the lorry and managed to seize the lorry. There were two huge granite blocks loaded on the lorry. In addition, a hitachi and a stone drilling machine were also recovered from the mining site.

Sources said that owner of the private plot and a mining magnate based in Hassan are suspected to be the masterminds of the illegal mining operations.

Meanwhile, the case has been transferred to higher-ups in the mines and geology department for further action.