GREATER NOIDA: Eleven people were arrested on Friday when police conducted a massive anti-sand mining drive at different places in Greater Noida. The police also seized five trucks, one JCB machine, and one Pope lane machine.About 30 police officers from four police stations headed by SDM Sadar sub-divisional magistrate, Rajesh Kumar Singh , and Abhinandan , Circle Officer II Greater Noida, were behind the crackdown. The raid was conducted after some locals students sent WhatsApp messages to district administration officials.On getting the messages, the police and administration teams conducted raids at Murshadpur, Jaganpur and Afzalpur, which are under Eco Tech I police station limits, at 11am. "We found eight men involved in illegal sand mining on the banks of the Yamuna. When they saw cops approaching, they began to flee but were chased and caught," Abhinandan said.Some trucks were laden with sand and were ready to depart when the police team raided them. The main accused have been identified as Ashok Kumar, Dharmendra and Shrinivas. The other persons worked on their directions.The police team also received information about illegal sand minding at Atta Gurjan village, under Dankaur police station limits. "We arrested three persons involved in sand mining at Atta Gurjan," the police said.District magistrate N P Singh said he received messages from local students about the illegal mining. "We created a network of local students for this initiative and told them to share information without disclosing their identities," he said.

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