 Sumaira Abdulali of BEAG, measuring the density of noise pollution with a decibel meter in a file photographSenior environmental activist with the Bombay Environmental Action Group, Sumaira Abdulali, was beaten up by sand-miners yesterday at Kihim beach in Raigad district.
According to Abdulali, she and two others had gone to the beach in response to a complaint by residents there that Madhu Thakur, a Congress functionary of the district, was heading an illegal sand-mining operation on the beach.
When we reached the spot, there were three trucks fully loaded with sand parked beside freshly dug-up craters on the beach. When we protested, Madhu Thakurs son and four others assaulted me, beat me up and threw me to the ground. "I have filed an FIR with the Alibag police against the assault. The three trucks used to transport the sand were later found to belong to Thakur Brothers, a firm owned by Madhu Thakur, Abdulali said.
Abdulali said that she also underwent a medical check-up at the Alibag Municipal Hospital after the assault.
The tehsildar under whose jurisdiction Kihim beach falls took cognizance of the matter and filed a civil complaint against the theft of sand from Kihim beach by the illegal sand-miners, said Abdulali.
When contacted Ramdas Patil, sub-inspector, Alibag police station and case investigating officer said, We have registered a case (CR 84/04) under Sections 379 (theft), 323 (assault) and 34 (assault by a group) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 15 of the Environment Act. "But the FIR has been registered against the drivers of the trucks. It is being said that Madhu Thakurs son was part of the assaulting group but we will have to investigate this.
Abdulali meanwhile said that she had written to the Raigad district collector about the incident and also about illegal sand-mining going on rampantly at the Kihim beach. Kihim
A tourist spot famous for its birds
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