As the Karnataka High Court has barred police from booking the accused under the MMDR Act, the city police will continue to seize illegally stocked sand and intimate the Department of Mines and Geology Department, who will file the private complaint before the jurisdictional magistrate.
Police Commissioner T.R. Suresh said provisions under the MMDR Act was effective against illegal mining and transportation as against offence under Section 379 of the Indian Penal Code. Apart from imprisonment of a maximum of two years, an offender under the MMDR Act will have to pay fine that will be double the cost of vehicles used for llegal transportation. “We will continue to raid places and intimate the Department of Mines and Geology, who will take further steps necessary for prosecuting the accused under the MMDR Act,” he said. The city police have raided nearly 50 places since January, a majority of which were done after elections following directions of the then Police Commissioner Vipul Kumar. An official from the Mines and Geology Department said they have issued notices to owners of the places from where the sand was seized by police. “Only a few have replied and produced documents related to the sand they have stocked,” the official said. They will issue notice for the second time before the filing the private complaint before the Judicial Magistrate First Class for offences under the MMDR Act, he said.
