Assessment Is Tip Of The Iceberg: Annamalai After ED Affidavit States Sale Value Of Illegally Mined Excess Sand Is Rs 4730 Crore

Reacting to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) submission stating that the total sale value of the sand mined illegally in the past 1-2 years is Rs 4730 crore, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai said that the assessment was the tip of the iceberg.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, "The assessment by the authorities is the tip of the iceberg for the volume of state-sponsored loot under this Corrupt DMK Government.

"It’s becoming clear that the DMK Govt is a party to this crime & with the going rate, the DMK Govt would ensure that our entire State is sold to the highest bidder before the end of its tenure."

The affidavit also stated that 24 lakh units of sand were mined illegally and 987.01 hectares were mined instead of the permitted 195.37 hectares.

The submission was made during a hearing on a plea by the Tamil Nadu government against the summons issued to District Collectors as part of the ED's probe into illegal sand mining.

The government's plea contended that illegal sand mining is not a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the probe is an interference by a central agency into the domain of the state government and the state's consent was not taken, reported The Hindu.

The bench will rule on the government's plea on 28 November.