The goon has become the first to be arrested in Vidarbha under the amended MPDA Act
Nagpur: Sending a strong message, the Nagpur Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar has invoked the stringed Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act against Amol Khorgade alias Guddu, the alleged kingpin of sand smugglers. The goon has become the first to be arrested in Vidarbha under the amended MPDA Act. Khorgade was arrested by Nagpur Crime Branch from Saoner in the first week of November.
Today's Rate
Thursday 19 Dec. 2024
Notably, the Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had instructed the police department to take stern action against the sand mafia as soon as he came back to power. In January 2022, the city police had registered a case against the sand thieves at the Sadar Police Station. Investigation revealed that sand was supplied to various institutions in the city through fake Electronic Transit Passes (ETPs).
This ETP used to be issued from Narsinghpur in Madhya Pradesh. The broker sitting there used to make ETP and give it. The sand mafia of the district used to buy ETP from him, while the sand was stolen from the local ghats. The sand was stolen through about 900 ETPs and the government was duped of revenue worth crores of rupees.
In this case, the police had arrested 32 accused, out of which one was Guddu Khorgade. Since then he was lodged in Nagpur Jail. On Monday, the court granted him bail. On coming out of jail on Tuesday, the Crime Branch team arrested him again. The police had already done all the paperwork and were just waiting for him to come out of jail. On Tuesday evening, CP issued orders to slap MPDA on the sand mafia kingpin Guddu Khorgade.
5 cases of sand theft are registered against Guddu. Apart from this, there is also a case of creating a hindrance in government work. Narendra Pimple, one of the main accused in this case, got anticipatory bail. Against the bail of Pimple, the police have approached the High Court. So far, goods worth Rs 5 crore including 28 trucks have been confiscated from the sand mafia.
CP Amitesh Kumar has roped in a financial auditor to assess the ill-gotten wealth of the sand mafia. He has also written to Maharashtra State Mining Corporation to help in valuation of the stolen sand.
