SALEM | Jun 04, 2015: As per a court order, 15.30 tonnes of sand that was transported illegally in a lorry that met with an accident and claimed six lives in 2014 was auctioned here on Wednesday.

The sand-laden lorry travelling from Tiruchi to Salem jumped the median and hit the Namakkal-bound bus from Salem and a two-wheeler near Sandhiyur on Salem – Namakkal National Highway on December 22, 2014.

In the impact, bus passengers Alamelu (65), and her daughter-in-law Poornima (40), a couple on a two-wheeler Raja (28), Saroja (26), and their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Dhanalakshmi, and lorry cleaner Kumar (30), died on the spot. Six others suffered grievous injuries. Mallur police registered a case of rash driving and culpable homicide and arrested lorry driver Ganesan. The police seized the lorry and handed it in the court. It was found that the lorry was permitted to carry only 8 tonne, where as it transported 15.30 tonnes of sand.

The prosecution sought auctioning of the sand and the Judicial Magistrate VI K. Ambika on May 13, 2015 formed a committee comprising Salem Revenue Divisional Officer S.H. Sheik Mohideen, Assistant Director of Mines Suresh, Assistant Executive Engineer of Public Works Department, Sarabanga Basin Division, Premkumar and coordinator DSP Rural M. Chandrasekaran.

On Wednesday, the committee auctioned the sand at Mallur police station with a minimum price of Rs. 6,418. As many as 15 persons participated in the auction and the sand was auctioned for Rs. 6,600.

The amount would be deposited in the treasury and a report would be filed in the court, officials said. They added that probably this was the first time that a court-appointed committee had auctioned illegally transported sand in the district.

(Source: http://www.thehindu.com/)