The Gorai police arrested four men and seized a hydraulic backhoe loader and an earth-filled dumper from them for excavating soil illegally, while patrolling last week.

Those arrested include Sitaram Devkar, Ajay Devkar, Virendra Yadav and Shivaji Pawar. The senior inspector of Gorai police station, Ramesh Nangare said, "They have been booked under Sections 379 (theft), 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code and under the provisions of Minor Mineral Extraction Rules."