Mysore/Mysuru: With a firm resolve to arrest a repeat offender who used to transport sand illegally, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shivakumar himself went on a night-out and sat on the main road. He was able to arrest the offender and also seize the truck along with the sand. 

Sand smuggler Murali from Induvalu village, who used to transport truckloads of sand from Mysuru to Bengaluru every night, had become a headache to the Police. He was arrested and jailed a couple of times but blatantly continued the trade with the blessings of some vested interests in the Bannur Police Station. 

Murali was not scared of law and every night his truck used to move from Mysuru to the State Capital and usually six bikes and two cars used to escort Murali’s truck through the Bannur Road. The business continued to thrive as Murali had pocketed some Policemen. 

Based on several complaints, ASP Shivakumar decided to enter the scene yesterday and waited for the truck to arrive. In a covert operation, Shivakumar and Police Constables Deepu and Srinivas landed on the truck’s regular route soon after dark. 

Very sure that the truck would arrive after midnight, the ASP-led team squatted on the road. Finally the truck and the escort vehicles were spotted. While Murali and his truck landed in the Police net, the escort vehicles made an escape. 

Murali and the truck were taken to the Bannur Police Station and a case has been booked. Police said that the truck belonged to one Srikanth of Mysuru. In a stern warning to the Bannur Police, Shivakumar said that illegal sand mining would not be tolerated.