Patna: In the second major crackdown within a week, the Patna district administration, along with police, on Thursday seized three boats engaged in the illegal extraction of sand from the Ganga river and imposed a total penalty of Rs 34 lakh on the owners under the Bihar Minerals Rules. Seven people were arrested during the operation, and an FIR was registered at Maner police station.The joint raid, conducted from 3pm in the Byapur area under Maner police station jurisdiction, was directed by Patna DM Thiyagrajan SM. The team, comprising the sub-divisional officer Danapur, SDPO Danapur II, district mining officer, all mining inspectors, and Maner police, caught the three boats red-handed using drilling machines to illegally extract and transport fine sand (‘ujla balu’) from the riverbed.“All three boats have been confiscated, and stringent action has been initiated,” the DM said.
