Kerala seems to be under the control of mafias of all kinds. The Italian version that one had read about in Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather' has found its way to God's own country in a variety of shades - the 'sand' mafia, the 'quarry' mafia and so on.....
These groups, unfortunately, have the blessings of a minute set of corrupt police officials and consequently, act with impunity. I'm talking about the sand mafia that has been in the news lately. They resort to illegal mining of sand from the riverbeds and in a few instances, from the sea beaches which has been banned by the government. The mining, the filling up of the sand into tipper lorries and its subsequent transportation to their intended destinations are nocturnal activities carried out under the cover of darkness. The police 'connection' gives them advance information of the raids - the place, the composition of the raiding party and the name of the police officer who's its leader. Incidentally, the tipper lorries are preceded by helmet clad bikers who act as the bouncers.
I suspect that there's a political nexus, too, behind this organised crime and the menace has acquired gargantuan proportions! Consider this incident that had taken place last week at Kozhikode. The district collector and a senior police officer were conducting raids of the area, when a tipper lorry had stopped dead on the road and tipped its sand onto the collector's vehicle. The culprits - actually, the goons and not their leaders - are yet to be nabbed completely, which bears ample testimony to their reach and influence in the corridors of power!
And the price of a truckload of sand can burn a hole in an ordinary citizen's pocket.
Tailpiece.
The respect and fear of the law are the important edifices on which a society survives. But when the lawmakers and the law enforcers start breaking the law themselves, then it's a hopeless situation. Are we headed that way? And don't tell me that we do not have honest men?
These groups, unfortunately, have the blessings of a minute set of corrupt police officials and consequently, act with impunity. I'm talking about the sand mafia that has been in the news lately. They resort to illegal mining of sand from the riverbeds and in a few instances, from the sea beaches which has been banned by the government. The mining, the filling up of the sand into tipper lorries and its subsequent transportation to their intended destinations are nocturnal activities carried out under the cover of darkness. The police 'connection' gives them advance information of the raids - the place, the composition of the raiding party and the name of the police officer who's its leader. Incidentally, the tipper lorries are preceded by helmet clad bikers who act as the bouncers.
I suspect that there's a political nexus, too, behind this organised crime and the menace has acquired gargantuan proportions! Consider this incident that had taken place last week at Kozhikode. The district collector and a senior police officer were conducting raids of the area, when a tipper lorry had stopped dead on the road and tipped its sand onto the collector's vehicle. The culprits - actually, the goons and not their leaders - are yet to be nabbed completely, which bears ample testimony to their reach and influence in the corridors of power!
And the price of a truckload of sand can burn a hole in an ordinary citizen's pocket.
Tailpiece.
The respect and fear of the law are the important edifices on which a society survives. But when the lawmakers and the law enforcers start breaking the law themselves, then it's a hopeless situation. Are we headed that way? And don't tell me that we do not have honest men?
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