Rs. 40,000 penalty imposed

Mysuru: The Principal District and Sessions Court Judge has sentenced a tractor owner and the driver to 18 months imprisonment and has also imposed a fine of Rs. 40,000 each for illegal sand mining.

While the owner of the tractor has been identified as Jayashankar of Belavadi village in the taluk, the driver has been identified as Sandeep of Hebbal village in K.R. Nagar taluk.

Though the convicts had appealed seeking mercy as they had to take care of their elderly parents, Judge P.G.M. Patil dismissed their appeal stating that the accused were causing serious damage to the river bed by digging the rivers and no mercy would be shown to them.

It may be recalled that K.R. Nagar SI Shanmugam had intercepted the tractor and the trailer which was used by Jayashankar and Sandeep to transport sand from Cauvery River at Thippur village in K.R. Nagar taluk on Hassan-Mysuru Highway near Arkeshwara Temple in May 2015. The duo had fled from the spot after seeing the Police.

K.R. Nagar Police, who conducted an investigation, found out that the tractor belonged to Jayashankar and Sandeep was the driver and both were involved in the illegal trade.

Judge Patil, who heard the arguments, pronounced the above judgment and also ordered the Government to confiscate the tractor and the trailer. Public Prosecutor H.E. Chinnappa argued for the Government.