The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has seized fake sale receipts, counterfeit QR code and incriminating documents in the sale of sand from the depots managed by the Water Resources Department, Government of Tamil Nadu.
Besides freezing ₹12.82 crore, the central agency seized ₹2.33 crore and 1,024.6 grams of gold worth ₹56.86 lakh.
Evidence of bogus transactions, benami companies was found during the simultaneous searches which commenced at 34 locations, including 8 sand mining yards on Thursday last in 6 districts of Tamil Nadu, residential and business premises of various persons, including S. Ramachandran, K. Rathinam, Karikalan and their accomplices, Auditor P. Shanmugaraj and officials of Water Resources Department, in the illegal sand mining case, the ED said in a statement.
The agency had initiated investigation on the basis of FIRs registered in various parts of Tamil Nadu disclosing allegations about huge illegal mining of river sand and gravel quarry etc. Numerous complaints were registered by law-enforcement agencies highlighting illegal mining practices rampant across Tamil Nadu, the ED said.
According to sources, sale of sand in the depots in many districts was almost nil since the ED commenced the searches. Investigators have seized from storage devices, sales records and other documents from the sales depots.
“They are trying to assess the quantity of sand mined from river beds and compare the same with the sales on record. The number of sand lorries that visited the sales depots is also being assessed with the help of CCTV footage and other technical inputs,” a senior police official who did not want to be quoted said.
Besides examining some private persons and Water Resources Department staff at the sand depots, ED officials also visited the office of the Engineer-in-Chief at Ezhilagam.
The focus was on probing a money laundering offence after assessing the actual quantum of sand sold and what was brought on record, revenue loss to the State Government and payment of GST to Central and State governments, the sources said.
