The District Crime Intelligence Bureau (DCIB) sleuths raided a point on the Heggattu rivulet bank near Induvalli village in Sagar taluk where sand was being mined on Saturday.
The DCIB police arrested 12 people in this connection. The police identified the arrested as Muralidhara, Rathnakara, K.N. Shivaprakash, Harsha, Hemanth Kumar, Manjunath, Vasanth Kumar, Somashekhar, Sandesh, Manju, Rakshith and Sudarshan R.. They have seized 15 trucks and one tractor parked on the bank of the rivulet used to transport the sand.
The raid was conducted based on a tip-off by the members of Induvalli Gram Panchayat. The locals alleged that the roads in the village had been badly damaged owing to the movement of sand-laden trucks.
The police have said that the sand lifted here used to be transported to Haveri, Shivamogga and Davangere cities. Cases have been booked under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1965, against the arrested persons at Sagar Rural police station.