TENKASI: Responding to mounting public pressure to curb illegal mineral smuggling, the Tenkasi police intensified enforcement measures, resulting in a nearly one-third reduction in the number of Kerala-bound mineral-laden trucks from south Tamil Nadu over the past two days.
As part of the drive, the Puliyarai police arrested four drivers and seized their vehicles for allegedly smuggling blue metal using fake transit passes prepared by a private crusher. The arrested drivers were identified as S Shanmugarajan, D Raji, M Sampath and R Aravinth Nayar.
Speaking to TNIE, Superintendent of Police G S Madhavan on Saturday said, “Earlier, more than 500 vehicles were transporting minerals to Kerala via Tenkasi. Over the past two days, the number has come down to around 300 to 350. We are decoding and verifying transit passes of all trucks. We are continuing the inquiry to bust the network behind the fake transit pass racket. No one behind this operation will be spared,” he said.
Another police official said the enforcement action had compelled mineral transporters to strictly adhere to regulations, which would also lead to increased revenue for the government exchequer.
Another police official said the enforcement action had compelled mineral transporters to strictly adhere to regulations, which would also lead to increased revenue for the government exchequer.
Residents of several parts of the district, who had been facing public nuisance due to heavy vehicle movement, expressed relief over the reduced traffic during the past two days and thanked the district police for the action.
Meanwhile, Tenkasi Iyarkai Vala Pathugappu Sangam general secretary S Jameen urged the state government to set up a weighbridge for the Tenkasi police at Puliyarai to facilitate random checks of mineral-laden trucks, which he said would help completely eliminate mineral overloading and smuggling. “The recent police action has suddenly reduced the movement of at least 150 mineral-laden vehicles. The bitter truth is that many of these vehicles, if not at least half of them, might be smuggling minerals using fake transit passes. We have been raising this issue for years. We request the Tenkasi police to continue their action,” he said.