Team Herald
PERNEM: Police booked 12 persons involved in connection with the sand extraction and the locals for blocking NH 17 on Friday.
People of Uguem on Friday evening blocked National Highway 17 for five hours to protest illegal sand extraction.
According to sources, the incident took place in the afternoon when one Prabhakar Rama Mahale, a resident of Uguem saw some people from Porascadem while extracting sand near Satarda Railway Bridge and stopped them from doing so.
The persons, who were extracting sand, assaulted Prabhakar Rama Mahale, causing him severe injuries and dragged him to the road from the sand extraction area. When the locals witnessed Prabhakar being assaulted, they contacted the police and later police took the victim to hospital. Later, the police brought the victim to the police station and started with the inquiry before giving him any required medical treatment.
When people came to know that Prabhakar was not given any medical treatment, they marched to the police station and got him admitted to District hospital at Mapusa and was later shifted to GMC.
People of Uguem at around 7 pm blocked the National Highway 17 till midnight for five hours. Traffic was blocked causing inconvenience to commuters.
Some people were forced to walking to reach their respective destinations.
Meanwhile, sources said that on Saturday morning locals of Porascadem allegedly damaged two buses owned by Uguem locals.
Uguem locals claimed that since many years they have been trying to stop illegal sand extraction. They claimed to have made several letters to the concern authorities and added that their requests have fallen flat. They claimed that the authorities have forced them to take this drastic step.
The victim is currently undergoing treatment at GMC.
