CHENNAI: Expressing shock over a recent incident in which sand smugglers attempted to murder a government official, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday urged the ruling DMK government to consider such attacks as a war against the state and curb the sand mafia with an iron fist.
In a statement, Anbumani spoke about the incident where a sand smuggling gang in a lorry hit the car of Illuppur Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Deivanayagi. "Based on information about sand smuggling near Valayapatti in Pudukottai district, Illuppur tahsildar Deivanayagi rushed to the spot to arrest the smugglers. However, the gang tried to murder her by ramming their lorry into the officer's car. Though the car was damaged, the driver swerved to save Deivanayaki and her assistant," he recalled.
He continued to list attacks on government officials who tried to take action against sand smuggling. "In April 2023, Lourdu Francis, a Village Administration Officer (VAO) was murdered in Thoothukudi district. Apart from providing Rs 1 crore to her family, the government has not taken any measure to curb sand smuggling. In Salem, another VAO was chased by a gang with weapons. In Vellore, too, a special sub-inspector of police was attacked," he listed.
Neither the Tamil Nadu government nor the police have taken any action to arrest the gang, Anbumani said, alleging that instead they were focused on preventing the news of the assassination attempt on a Revenue Divisional officer from appearing in the news.
Alleging that it was the support of the state government that had emboldened these gangs, the PMK leader said, "If sand smuggling gangs have the guts to try to kill high-ranking officers, it depends on the support they get from the ruling party. It is due to the courage given by the ruling party that the sand smuggling gangs operating in Tamil Nadu are turning into mafias. This is a huge threat not only to natural resources but also to the society.
The Tamil Nadu government should crack down on the sand smugglers across Tamil Nadu with an iron fist. But if the government acts in favour of the sand smugglers, the people will teach the government a proper lesson," Anbumani stated.
(With online desk inputs)