VELLORE: In an attempt to make quick bucks, around 20 youngsters of Perumugai and Vasur villages in the district have been resorting to smuggling sand in two-wheelers, for the last three years, it is alleged. This is in addition to sand being stolen using lorries and bullock carts.
Councillors, the panchayat president and local politicians and their relatives were actively involved in this lucrative business. With their support, smugglers carry out smuggling and even threaten those villagers who oppose their illegal activities, claimed the villagers.
They allege that police and revenue officials too are hand-in-glove with the smugglers.
Lorries, tractors, bullock-carts are passe, sand-smugglers now use two-wheelers for their activities in Vellore district | Express
“None are taking steps against the illegal activity as police and revenue officials are hand-in-glove with the smugglers. Police officials receive bribes from the sand smugglers on a daily -basis,” claimed a villager. He added that they are usually active between 11 pm and 10 am the next day. At times, when the demand is high, sand is smuggled even during the day.
In a single trip, each of them transport five plastic gunny bags of sand (each weighs around 60 kg). They smuggle around three to five tonnes a day. Around 36 bags of sand amount to one unit (100 cubic feet) that is sold for `2,500.
The sand being smuggled to Chennai and Karnataka form their illegal stock yard in the vicinity.
“Each of them will do 15-20 shuttle trips and earn `5,000 to `6000 within a couple of hours,” said another villager and added that the earlier Superintendent of Police P Vijayakumar raided a stone crushing unit near Ponniyamman Koil in Perumugai village and seized nearly 1000 bags of sand stacked on the unit that belonged to a local politician.
Despite the villagers strong objection, the two-wheeler sand smugglers whave been plundering the riverbed along Perumugai and Pillaiyarkuppam villages for the last few years.
“They are also putting the lives of the villagers in grave danger. A couple of months ago, ex-service man Sundaraj was killed after he was knocked down by a speeding sand smuggler two-wheeler. They have also knocked down several persons, including women, while ferrying the sand,” said the villagers.
Tahsildar of Vellore K Vijayan, a native of Perumugai admitted that sand is being smuggled indiscriminately in two-wheelers in Perumugai area.
He said, “We are taking steps with the available manpower to control sand smuggling. We are also planning to take steps against two-wheeler sand smugglers.”
Superintendent of Police P K Senthil Kumari said that action would be taken against sand smugglers.
Four Years On, Kin Await 'Body' of Vellore Man From Saudi
By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS
Published: 05th October 2015 05:00 AM
Last Updated:05th October 2015
VELLORE: Fifty-five-year-old Kousalya last saw her husband, K Subramanian, who was working in Saudi Arabia, more than four years ago and was informed of his death in a road accident on July 3, 2011. However she and her 34-year-old son refuse to believe he is dead and have not only refused government compensation of approximately `2.39 lakh but also allege a lack of transparency in the whole matter. They continue to expect him to show up at their front door, despite the central government and the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, notifying them of his death.
Kausalya, Venkatesan looking at a family album with pic of Subramanian
Despite the communication from official sources both in Saudi Arabia and India of Subramanian’s death, there seem to be valid reasons for his family to suspect the legitimacy of the claim that Subramanian did indeed die in a traffic accident.
The background to the story is as follows: Subramanian was working as a joint-wheel operator for 13 years in an amusement park of Al-Hokair Group and Sons in Saudi Arabia. He visited his family last in February 2011, according to Subramanian’s son, Venkatesan, a resident of Ambur Town.
Subramanian’s relative, Kumar, who was then the chief accountant of the company in which Subramanian was working for, informed Kousalya that her husband had met with a road accident and died on July 3,2011.
“My brother-in-law (Kumar) was at his native place in Polur when the accident in which my husband was reportedly killed, occurred. He informed me about (my husband’s) death over the phone. But till date, there is no evidence to prove my husband was killed in the accident,” said Kousalya.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh has reported that “Kandasamy Subramanian, an Indian National, died in Saudi Arabia” and sent a cheque of `2,39,722 to the Indian government pertaining to legal dues in respect of the deceased. An official told Express that it should have been handed over to the deceased’s legal heirs. The family however, has refused to collect the money.
“My uncle (Kumar) told me and my mother to arrange for `2 lakh to bring his body back to our place. Though we were ready with the money, officials in the Collectorate told us not to give the money to anyone to bring the mortal remains of my father,” Subramanian’s son, Venkatesan said.
Kousalya and her son therefore refuse to believe either the Indian Embassy or Kumar’s account of Subramanian’s death. Kousalya has also given a written statement to the district administration that she did not want the legal dues (compensation) from the government and continues to suspect something is wrong.
“There is a lot of ambiguity over my father’s alleged death. Nobody has produced any evidence to prove the death. There was not even a clear communication of the nature of the accident in which my father allegedly died,” Venkatesan added.
With hopes of seeing Subramanian ever again dimming with each passing day, the family continues to hope that he is alive and will come back to them. With no photographic evidence of Subramanian’s death, no clear reasons given as to why the mortal remains were not sent back to India and no specific details as to how Subramanian died the family’s hopes are not entirely unreasonable
Saudi Employer Chops Off Vellore Domestic Help's Arm
By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS
Published: 06th October 2015 04:17 AM
Last Updated: 06th October 2015
VELLORE: Saudi Arabia continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons with yet another case of an Indian worker being harshly mistreated. Kasthuri (56), of Mungileri village near Katpadi, had gone to the Kingdom two months ago to take up work as a domestic housemaid only to have her right arm allegedly chopped off by her employer for lodging a complaint against them for ill-treating her. She is currently battling for her life in Kingdom Hospital in Riyadh.
The Saudi government machinery, according to rules prevailing there, periodically conducts inquiries and ascertains the welfare of housemaids of foreign origin. When the government agency inquired of Kasthuri, she complained that she was being ill-treated.
“My mother had told the officials a week ago that her employer was not providing her food properly and also ill- treating her. Following this, the government agency warned the employers not to ill-treat Kasthuri. The employers would have (chopped off her arm) after she complained about them,” claimed Mohan, son of Kasthuri. Mohan adds that she was admitted to the hospital by the police and with the help of an Indian, working there as a driver.
The victim’s family has pleaded with the government to bring her back and are demanding justice. Kasthuri’s husband, Munirathinam, son Mohan, daughters Vanaja, Selvi and Lakshmi and their relatives approached the district administration on Monday, seeking help to bring her back to India.
An agricultural labourer by trade, Kasthuri was approached by an agent from Tiruvannamalai with a promise of a monthly salary of `23,000 for working as a housemaid in Riyadh a few months ago.
Though her 37 year-old son Mohan, a mason, dissuaded her from going abroad as a housemaid, she took it as an opportunity to bail out the family from their mounting debt and left for Saudi Arabia on July 28 this year.
She started facing harassment from the very beginning and she alleged she was saddled with work without proper food, said Mohan fighting tears, after having talked to his mother in Kingdom hospital on Saturday.
Indian Embassy Demands Saudi Government Take Stern Action on Kasthuri Case
By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS
Published: 09th October 2015 04:37 AM
Last Updated:09th October 2015
VELLORE: Senior diplomats of the Indian embassy have approached the Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia to take severe action against the former employer of 56 year-old Kasthuri, a native of Vellore, whose arm was chopped off by the employer a week ago. Officials of the Indian Embassy have demanded the police department file an ‘attempt to murder’ case.
“We have taken the issue to the Government of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday through diplomatic channels requesting them to record Kasthuri’s statement, without any delay. We have also requested the government here for an independent probe into the incident,” First Secretary (Community Welfare) of the Indian Embassy Anil Nautiyal, told Express over the phone.
A senior diplomat of the Indian Embassy also met with the top officials of the Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia and conveyed the Indian Government’s displeasure over the incident, said Nautiyal.
He along with two other officials from the embassy in Riyadh met the Chief Police Officer and Investigation officer overseeing the Kasthuri case on Wednesday.
“We also registered our protest through the proper channels and requested the Chief Police Officer to register a case against Kasthuri’s employer on charges of attempt to murder,” Nautiyal said.
Kasthuri, a native of Mungileri village near Katpadi in Vellore, left for Saudi on July 28 to work as a housemaid for a monthly salary of `23,000.
Saudi police have already registered a case against the employer of Kasthuri.
Nautiyal added officials from the Indian Embassy also made inquiries with the doctors who operated on Kasthuri in the Kingdom Hospital, on the condition of the woman. The doctors informed officials in the Indian Embassy that the surgery was successful and Kasthuri was out of danger and will soon be able to travel.
Mohan, Kasthuri’s son, received a call from Kasthuri in Kingdom Hospital telling him that her employer and three others cut off her right hand on September 30 after Kasthuri reportedly told officials in Saudi Arabia that she was being ill-treated. “Officials in the Indian Embassy assured me that they would take care of the medical expenses of my mother and suitable action against the person who unleashed the inhuman act,” said Mohan.
It may be recalled that Kasthuri had lodged a complaint with the Saudi government for being ill-treated and not being fed properly, following which her employers attacked her brutally.
Kasthuri Munirathnam's Kin Plead for Her Safe Return From Saudi Arabia
By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS
Published: 10th October 2015 04:11 AM
Last Updated:10th October 2015
VELLORE: A day after the Centre strongly condemned the employer of 56-year-old Kasthuri Munirathnam, a Vellore native living in Saudi Arabia, for chopping off her hand, and demanded severe action against the perpetrators, her family expressed satisfaction with the Union Government’s initiative in getting justice for her. They are praying for her quick recovery and safe return to the country, the family said.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj strongly condemned the act of Kasthuri’s employer, terming it “unacceptable”. “We are very much disturbed over the brutal manner in which Indian lady has been treated in Saudi Arabia,” she tweeted.
Noting that Indian mission had “actively” pursued the case, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India raised the case with the Saudi Foreign Ministry on October 7. “Separately, Mission officials have met the police chief as well as the investigating officer and have requested that Munirathinam’s statement be recorded, an independent probe be started and a case of attempted murder lodged against the sponsor,” he said.
“We are extremely happy with the way the government has taken up my mother’s problem. She has worked all her life as a coolie... She went to the foreign country to settle debts that she and my father had taken for our weddings,” said Selvi, her daughter, fighting back tears.
Kasthuri is being treated at the Kingdom Hospital in Riyadh.
