The Tiruchi district rural police on Sunday arrested three persons, including a panchayat president, for preventing a government official from discharging his duties by assaulting him when he was inquiring about the illegal mining of red sand near Thuraiyur.
Activists had drawn the attention of government officials through petitions regarding the illegal mining of red sand in Narasingapuram, a village in Thuraiyur block. Acting upon the petitions, Revenue Inspector Prabhakaran was conducting the inspection at Narasingapuram on Saturday night.
When he stopped a vehicle that was transporting red sand without proper permission, V. Maheshwaran, 48, the panchayat president of Narasingapuram, his accomplices, P. Dhanapal, 48, R. Manikandan, 26, and K. Kandasamy, 35, picked up a quarrel with the Revenue Inspector and assaulted him, said police sources.
Based on a complaint, the Thuraiyur police registered a case against them and arrested three persons, except Kandasamy who escaped, under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, on Sunday.
