33-year-old who raised alarm on sand mining killed, 6 arrested

Six people were arrested on Thursday for allegedly killing a 33-year-old man in Davanagere district after he informed the mining department about the illegal sand mining activities by the accused.

Davanagere superintendent of police (SP) Uma Prashant said: “The victim, identified as Shivaraj, had informed the district mining and geology department about Satish’s illegal sand mining activities along the Tungabhadra river, following which the department had served a notice to the contractor.”

The accused were allegedly used the illegally mined sand for a construction project in Halolli village, he said.

He further said: “The complaint had irked the accused and Satish, his son (Abhishek), and their associates confronted Shivaraj and his friend Bharat on Wednesday evening in Margondanahalli. The argument escalated, and Satish and his supporters allegedly attacked Shivaraj and Bharat with knives.”

While Shivaraj died on the spot, Bharat sustained serious injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Shivamogga,” the officer added.

The six accused were booked under BNS sections 103 (murder) and 109 (attempt to murder) , the SP said.