TN: Sand mafia bid to bury whistleblower alive

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 14th May 2012

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  Shell-shocked: Village assistant S Rajendran at the Tirupattur GH.

VELLORE: Villagers of Jayapuram, about 12 km from Tirupattur, saved a government employee from certain death on Saturday. Fifty-one-year-old Village Assistant (VA) S Rajendran, who tried to stop a gang of notorious smugglers from illegally mining sand from Kottaru river, was attacked and dragged for about 100 metres by the thugs. The smugglers then tried to bury him alive in a five-foot deep pit in the riverbed.

However, he was saved after a small girl alerted the villagers about the incident. Revenue and police departments officials were shocked after hearing about the incident since the notorious gang had gone to the extent of killing the government employee.

Sources in the police department said the prime accused, Thirupathy, a resident of Annasagaram in Mallapalli, had attempted to murder the VA. He has been smuggling sand from the riverbed for years. There were a number of cases against him. He, however, continued his illegal activities with alleged political support.

Tirupattur Sub-collector  Shilpa Prabhakar, who received information about sand smuggling in Kottaru river, immediately directed Revenue Inspector Raja, and Village Administrative Officer of Paniyandapalli panchayat   Samundi, to rush to the spot and stop the illegal activity. They, in turn, alerted the VA, who was on his way to Jayapuram on a two-wheeler after attending the jamabandhi at the Sub-collector’s Office on Saturday, to rush to the riverbed.

“I reached the spot at 4.30 pm and took the key from the tractor in which they were loading the sand. One of the four persons contacted their owner. Within 10 minutes, he came to the spot on his bike and tried to snatch the key from me. But I resisted and they started to beat me and also dragged me for nearly 100 metres,” said Rajendran who is undergoing treatment in the Government Hospital at Tirupattur.

Thirupathy and his associates threw Rajendran into the pit, dug up to illegally mine sand in the riverbed, and started to cover him with sand.

Kingpin remains elusive

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 15th May 2012

VELLORE: A day after sand smugglers attempted to bury a Village Assistant (VA) alive, the police have arrested a 19-year-old boy, Sekar of Mallapalli. They said they were on the heels of the prime accused Tirupathy, of Annasagaram Village in Mallapalli.

Tirupathy, a notorious sand smuggler, is frequently changing his hideout to evade the arrest since Saturday evening, police said.

He along with five of his associates had tried to bury Village Assistant S Rajendran, alive in a five-foot deep pit on the Kottaru riverbed when he had tried to stop them from illegal mining.

“We have formed four special teams to track down Thirupathy and his associates,” Assistant Superintendent of Police of Tirupattur G Dharmarajan told Express. “The police teams have been travelling to different parts of the district based on information to arrest him.” They have arrested one of the six persons who had attempted to bury Rajendran alive in the riverbed, he added.

Around noon, a police team rushed to Arakkonam based on a tip off. However, they were unable to locate the prime accused. “We tracked him till Arakkonam based on his mobile phone signal. He, however, switched off his mobile phone when the team reached Arakkonam,” said the ASP.

He said that the department would zero in on him very soon. “We have also formed a special team to seize the tractor that they have used to smuggle sand form the riverbed,” he said.

The police officer said that the notorious gang, besides wielding strong political clout, had a strong network to keep vigil on the movement of revenue and police officials all these years.

The revenue officials attached to Tirupattur Taluk have registered four sand smuggling cases against Thirupathy since January this year.

Meanwhile, Sub-collector of Tirupattur Shilpa Prabhakar submitted a detailed report to Collector Ajay Yadav in connection with the murder attempt by Thirupathy and his gang. “I met the Collector at Yelagiri and submitted a detailed report to him about the incident and the criminal history of Thirupathy,” said the sub-collector.

Along with the report, the sub-collector has also handed over the demands of the Village Administrative Officers, Revenue Officials and Village Assistants’ Associations.

“Tirupathy had paid penalty on several occasions in the past for sand smuggling in and around Tirupattur. It shows that he has been doing the illegal activities for several years,” she added.

Sand mafia kingpin gives up at Egmore Court

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 16th May 2012

VELLORE: Prime accused Tirupathy, who allegedly attempted to bury Village Assistant S Rajendran alive on  the Kottaru Riverbed near Tirupattur, has surrendered before the V Metropolitan Magistrate in Egmore, Chennai, along with an accomplice, on Tuesday. The Vellore Police is likely to file for the duo’s custody in the court on Wednesday.

Police said that Tirupathy, of Annasagaram village, and his associate Govindaraj, of the same village, surrendered before the V Metropolitan Magistrate in Egmore around 5.30 pm.

 “Fearing arrest, the duo surrendered before the court,” said a senior police officer here.

Vellore police was continuing its search for three others in the case. On Monday, 19-year-old Sekar was arrested in connection with the case.

Tirupathy, a notorious sand smuggler, and five others had roughed up the VA and attempted to bury him alive in a five-foot-deep pit on Kottaru River bed, 12 km from Tirupattur. He was rescued by the villagers of Jayapuram after a little girl alerted them.

Tirupathy was elusive since Saturday after the police registered a case against him and five others under sections 147, 148, 294 (b), 506 (II), 353 and 307 of IPC and 3 (1) (A) of SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.