Illegal Sand Mining – Artifex.News

Allegations of illegal sand mining against E.V. Velu will be probed, says the Tiruvannamalai Collector

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 15:51:00 +0000

E.V. Velu
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

Large-scale illegal sand mining in the dry lake bed at Malappambadi village near Tiruvannamalai, allegedly by senior DMK leader and former PWD and Highways Minister E.V. Velu, will be probed, Collector Vandana Garg has said.

In an interaction with The Hindu, she said the district administration was aware of the complaints of illegal sand mining in the lake. An inquiry committee would be formed to probe the charges of sand theft that had allegedly caused a loss to the exchequer. “We are discussing the issue of illegal sand mining in the lake. An inquiry committee will be formed to conduct a detailed probe into it,” Ms. Garg said.

The Collector’s remarks came in the wake of the complaint lodged by Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO, with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in Chennai on August 13. The complaint said a large quantity of sand from the dry lake bed was illegally mined by Mr. Velu and his supporters for levelling an open land, spread over 124.56 acres, to organise the DMK’s northern zone youth wing conference on December 14 last year.

The conference was attended by DMK president and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and his son and former Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi. The sand theft had caused a loss of ₹8 crore to the exchequer, the complaint said.

Arappor Iyakkam also accused Mr. Velu, who was the DMK’s northern zonal in-charge for the 2026 Assembly election, of overseeing the logistics for the conference. “The sand from the lake bed was illegally mined to a depth of around 10 feet-23 feet and to an extent of around 12 acres as against the permissible limit of one metre in depth under the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1959. The excavated sand could be used only for local agricultural, pottery, and domestic purposes,” the complaint said.

The NGO alleged that residents, farmers, and members of farmers’ organisations, led by environmental activist Arul Arumugam, had sent complaints about the illegal excavation of sand to the Collector, the Tahsildhar, the Village Administrative Officer, and the Tiruvannamalai Corporation. But no action was taken. Arappor Iyakkam has urged the DVAC to register a First Information Report against Mr. Velu and others.

Published – August 14, 2026 09:21 pm IST

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Madras High Court’s Big Rebuke To Probe Agency In Illegal Sand Mining Row

admin — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 15:07:34 +0000

Chennai:

The Madras High Court has reprimanded the Enforcement Directorate for overstepping bounds while investigating illegal sand mining in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

A bench of Justice MS Ramesh and Justice Sunder Mohan pointed out the federal agency could not claim jurisdiction since mining, illegal or otherwise, is not listed as a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The High Court therefore stayed proceedings against the accused sand mining contractors and directed the ED to release seized properties.

“We are of the opinion that unless information with regard to any case (as a scheduled offence) is registered, and such an offence has generated proceeds of crime, which is dealt with by petitioners, no action can be initiated,” the court said.

The order had been passed Tuesday. The court’s full judgement was released today.

This is not the first time the ED has been ticked off in connection with this case.

READ | “Completely Illegal”: ED Summons To 5 Tamil Nadu Officers Paused

In November last year the High Court stayed – for three weeks – the agency’s summons to five District Collectors. The court observed the ED had limited powers but did not pause the probe.

The agency had summoned the DCs of Ariyalur, Vellore, Thanjavur, Karur, and Tiruchirapalli.

Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had sought to invalidate the summons, arguing the ED did not have unbridled powers and that its summons went against the spirit of federalism.

Claiming it had already filed police cases, and that it was willing to provide details, the state argued the ED ought to seek details only through it and that any investigation ought to be with its consent.

The Supreme Court, though, has been less inclined to interfere.

In February the ED moved the top court to challenge the stay on summons to the five DC. During the hearing, Justice Bela M Trivedi asked, “Why is the state troubled… what is its stake in the matter?”

The Supreme Court subsequently directed the five officials to appear before the ED.

READ | Supreme Court Setback For Tamil Nadu In Illegal Sand Mining Probe

Justice Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal called the state’s plea “strange and misconceived”.

The alleged sand mining racket – which the ED claims is worth Rs 4,000 crore or more, according to data provided by an expert from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras – has been controversial for several years now, including when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was in power.

The AIADMK is now the main opposition party in the state.

Tax officials had said the miners’ illegal profit was routed into investments in other businesses, such as spinning and sugar mills, and hotels. Certain overseas transactions were also being scrutinised.

It has become a major political flashpoint in the southern state, and was leveraged by the Bharatiya Janata Party in February as it sought to make an impact during the Lok Sabha election. The BJP’s state boss, K Annamalai, warned, “ED will not leave who are involved in illegal sand mining.”

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Raids At 34 Locations Across Tamil Nadu In Illegal Sand Mining Case

admin — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 22:48:15 +0000

Probe agency ED carried out searches at 34 locations including 8 sand mining yards.

Chennai:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted extensive searches at 34 locations, which included eight sand mining yards, across six districts of Tamil Nadu on September 12 in an illegal sand mining case, said the agency on Friday.

“ED carried out searches at 34 locations including 8 sand mining yards on 12/09/2023 in 6 districts of Tamil Nadu, residential and business premises of various persons including S. Ramachandran, K. Rathinam, Karikalan and their accomplices, Auditor P. Shanmugaraj & officials of Water Resources Deptt, Govt. of Tamil Nadu in illegal sand mining case,” posted ED on ‘X’.

During the search, various incriminating documents including unaccounted cash for ₹ 2.33 Crore was found.

“During the search, various incriminating documents were found, ₹12.82 Cr. was put under freeze & unaccounted cash for ₹ 2.33 Crore, gold weighing 1024.6 grams worth ₹56.86 Lakh were seized,” added ED in another tweet.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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