Kerala   

A multi-pronged Act Law & order

The police are using provisions of the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act to curtail illegal sand-mining in the district.

Two lorries used for illegal sand-mining have been seized from the Nallalam and Medical College station limits under the provisions of the Act. It was for the first time in the State that vehicles were seized under the provisions of this Act, said Anu p Kuruvilla John, Kozhikode City Police Commissioner.

The action has been taken on the basis of a warrant issued by District Collector A. Jayathilak after the Commissioner recommended the seizure of lorries that had been involved in cases of unlawfully transporting sand from river banks.

The police were in the process of preparing a list of such vehicles in a bid to stop the unbridled sand-mining taking place in the district, the Commissioner said.

Usually, the provisions of the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act are used to charge drug offenders, goondas, hawala racketeers, immoral traffickers, known rowdies, loan sharks and property grabbers. (Anti-social activities mean acting in any manner that cause, directly or indirectly, any feeling of insecurity, danger or fear among the general public or any danger to the safety of individuals, public, public health or the ecological system or any loss to the public exchequer or any damage to public or private property.)

The Commissioner said that the police had taken action under Section 17 of the Act that stipulated that the authorised officer (District Collector who is also the District Magistrate) could empower any police officer to stop and search any vessel or animal and seize anything which the officer had reason to believe, had been, was being or was about to be used for any anti-social activity. Mr. John said that the police had taken possession of the vehicles so as to prevent ecological damage to the river banks. The vehicles would be kept in the custody of the two police stations. The Act had become a useful and powerful instrument, not only to curb the activities of anti-social elements but also to protect the environment, Mr. John said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Asianet News denies move to change ownership
Central intervention in Orissa sought
Flowers from afar
It has been a long wait for this singer
A multi-pronged Act Law & order
Meeting of minds
The noble sacrifice
For the cause of Ayurveda
campus notes
Onam kits come in cotton bags now
NSS volunteers meet Collector
SIO to hold student meet
Moosa remembered
SC/ST Commission gets 71 complaints
SMGB honours cops for cracking heist case
Chandy seeks Kodiyeri’s resignation
Parambikulam tiger reserve this fiscal
Celebration begins
Feast with devotion
The importance of soft skills
Heralding Onam
CAMPUS NOTES

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu