A cop under suspension was arrested by the Pozhiyoor police on Wednesday night for illegal sea sand mining and cheating.
The arrested has been identified as Swaine, 37, of PS Nivas, Virali, Kulathoor. He is a civil police officer attached to the Rural AR Camp, Pathanamthitta.
The police said that Swaine had been engaged in the trade of rock sand adulterated with sea sand. “The accused and his accomplices mined sand from the Pozhiyoor beach during night. The sand was then mixed with rock sand at his godown on a one-acre property near the shrimp factory on the beach,” the police said. “His expense for a truck load of sand was Rs 20,000 and it was sold for Rs 1 lakh,” they said.
Swaine is an accused in a few cases, including illegal sand mining and robbery, registered at the Poovar and Pozhiyoor stations. Swaine was produced in court and remanded. The investigation team, led by Neyyattinkara DySP Y R Rustum, included Poovar Sub-Inspector S P Praveen and Pozhiyoor Sub-Inspector Surendran.