<p>Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst the row over central agencies probe into the shady financial deals of a controversial mining firm with <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/kerala-india">Kerala</a> former Chief Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/pinarayi-vijayan">Pinarayi Vijayan</a>'s daughter, a long pending demand for an in-depth probe into the suspected smuggling of mineral <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/sand-mining">sand mining</a> from the Alappuzha-Kollam coastal areas is gaining steam.</p><p>Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), which made the suspicious payments of Rs 2.78 crore to the former CM's daughter Veena T, is also facing the allegation of smuggling the mineral rich sand worth crores of rupees.</p><p>An action council that has been on a stir against the suspected mineral sand smuggling, has now stepped up the demand for a comprehensive CBI probe. The disappearance of an anti-mining activist in 2021 deepens the mysteries.</p><p>"We have given representations to Chief Minister V D Satheesan and home minister Ramesh Chennithala the other day seeking CBI probe into the massive mineral sand mining smuggling as well as the missing of activist K Sajeevan in suspicious circumstances in 2021," Suresh Kumar S, chairman of the anti-mining action council of Thottapally in Alappuzha, told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>The action council also demands a ban on the sea sand mining considering the ecological sensitivity of the region.</p>.Raid at Pinarayi Vijayan's house: CPI(M) workers attack ED vehicle, situation remains tense.<p>"The high mineral content in the sea sands of the region used to protect the region from sea erosions. But owing to the unregulated mining, the region is witnessing massive sea erosion these days. So far 736 houses were destroyed in the sea erosion and at least 1,000 houses are under threat," he said.</p><p>Sajeevan, who was a local CPM activist, went missing soon after he took part in the stir against mining in 2021. He was facing threats and hence the action council is suspicious about the missing. </p><p>Even as public sector undertakings Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) and Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited are only authorised to carry out mining, private players like CMRL are allegedly smuggling loads of ilmenite rich sand from the region.</p><p>The action council alleges that at least 60 lakh metric tonnes of mineral rich sand was illegally smuggled from the region in the last five years under the cover of flood mitigation of the adjacent Kuttanad region. Now the IREL is learnt to have finalised yet another fresh tender for mineral sand mining, said Kumar.</p><p>Apart from CMRL's suspicious payments to VIjayan's daughter, initials that suggest the names of many prominent politicians figured in the documents of CMRL owner Sasidharan Kartha that were seized by central agencies.</p><p>"The looting of the mineral sand could be one of the biggest scams of the country. Hence a comprehensive CBI probe was required to unearth it," the action council urges.</p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst the row over central agencies probe into the shady financial deals of a controversial mining firm with <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/kerala-india">Kerala</a> former Chief Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/pinarayi-vijayan">Pinarayi Vijayan</a>'s daughter, a long pending demand for an in-depth probe into the suspected smuggling of mineral <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/sand-mining">sand mining</a> from the Alappuzha-Kollam coastal areas is gaining steam.</p><p>Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), which made the suspicious payments of Rs 2.78 crore to the former CM's daughter Veena T, is also facing the allegation of smuggling the mineral rich sand worth crores of rupees.</p><p>An action council that has been on a stir against the suspected mineral sand smuggling, has now stepped up the demand for a comprehensive CBI probe. The disappearance of an anti-mining activist in 2021 deepens the mysteries.</p><p>"We have given representations to Chief Minister V D Satheesan and home minister Ramesh Chennithala the other day seeking CBI probe into the massive mineral sand mining smuggling as well as the missing of activist K Sajeevan in suspicious circumstances in 2021," Suresh Kumar S, chairman of the anti-mining action council of Thottapally in Alappuzha, told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>The action council also demands a ban on the sea sand mining considering the ecological sensitivity of the region.</p>.Raid at Pinarayi Vijayan's house: CPI(M) workers attack ED vehicle, situation remains tense.<p>"The high mineral content in the sea sands of the region used to protect the region from sea erosions. But owing to the unregulated mining, the region is witnessing massive sea erosion these days. So far 736 houses were destroyed in the sea erosion and at least 1,000 houses are under threat," he said.</p><p>Sajeevan, who was a local CPM activist, went missing soon after he took part in the stir against mining in 2021. He was facing threats and hence the action council is suspicious about the missing. </p><p>Even as public sector undertakings Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) and Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited are only authorised to carry out mining, private players like CMRL are allegedly smuggling loads of ilmenite rich sand from the region.</p><p>The action council alleges that at least 60 lakh metric tonnes of mineral rich sand was illegally smuggled from the region in the last five years under the cover of flood mitigation of the adjacent Kuttanad region. Now the IREL is learnt to have finalised yet another fresh tender for mineral sand mining, said Kumar.</p><p>Apart from CMRL's suspicious payments to VIjayan's daughter, initials that suggest the names of many prominent politicians figured in the documents of CMRL owner Sasidharan Kartha that were seized by central agencies.</p><p>"The looting of the mineral sand could be one of the biggest scams of the country. Hence a comprehensive CBI probe was required to unearth it," the action council urges.</p>