AUGUSTO RODRIGUES
The Office of the Captain of Ports (CoP) has destroyed seven canoes used in illegal sand mining over the past six months, according to information obtained un der the RTI Act. At the same time, intelligence officers are probing the alleged in volvement of certain CoP staff members in aiding illegal sand miners. The inquiry follows an O Heraldo report, ‘Com plaint against CoP officer raises concern’, published on June 17, 2026. “Following the O Heral do report, a team has been formed and certain facts are being established,” Captain of Ports Octavio Rodrigues said. “The guilty will not be spared because such wrongdoing cannot be condoned,” he added. The controversy began unfolding after a boat owner from Camurlim recounted how a person allegedly employed with the CoP would approach canoes carrying illegally mined sand in a dinghy and demand money in the name of his su perior. “There used to be a CoP staff member posted in Chapora who would demand Rs 3,000 per canoe. If the money was not paid, the canoes would be seized and released only after several days, once Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 had been paid,” al leged the canoe owner, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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Several former participants in the illegal trade, who claim to have since quit, alleged that sand mining would never have become so rampant without the involvement of some CoP personnel. “The CoP staffer kept telling us he was acting on the in structions of his senior, who directed him on whom to ap proach. He never collected the money himself; it was picked up by another person,” the boat owner allegedly told intelli gence investigators. “The name of the person collecting money has surfaced repeatedly during our investigation, and his links to a CoP staff member are being examined. So far, people have spoken anonymously. We are now in the process of recording for mal statements,” an intelligence officer associated with the investigation said. Rodrigues, however, declined to comment on the names circulating in investigative circles. “The investigation is proceeding in the right direction. It would not be appropriate to say yes or no at this stage. Please wait for some time,” he said.
The Goa River Sand Protectors, the NGO pursuing the is sue before the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court, stated in an affidavit that it had informed the CoP office on four oc casions via email about ongoing illegal sand mining. According to the affidavit, emails were sent on Novem ber 3 and December 16, 2025, and January 9 and Febru ary 3, 2026. However, it does not specify how many calls, if any, were made to the Flying Squads constituted pursuant to directions of the High Court in Contempt Petition No 397/2026 (F). A government note (No 39/8/2019/MAG/Sand Ext/2021/2609), dated September 15, 2021, states that ta luka-level Flying Squads had been constituted to curb illegal sand mining and directed Deputy Collec-tors, Mamlatdars and Talathis to monitor and initiate appropriate legal action. The note also urged the public to report instances of ille gal sand mining through phone calls or WhatsApp messages, accompanied by photographs where possible, to the desig nated Flying Squad numbers for each taluka. This has raised questions over why NGOs seeking to stop illegal sand mining preferred emailing the CoP instead of alerting the Flying Squads directly. “It is rather odd that NGOs or individuals choose to write to the CoP when the High Court has mandated Flying Squads and these squads are functional.
One needs to examine how many calls were actually made to the Flying Squads,” said an advocate practising before the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court, re-questing anonymity. Advocate Viraj Bakre of the Goa River Sand Protectors Network defended the NGO’s approach. “We complained through email because illegal sand min ing is not like pickpocketing. It continues for five to six hours. Do you think the Flying Squad will respond to a phone call made in the middle of the night?” he asked. “The Flying Squad can go immediately. They can go, but they never do,” Bakre alleged, when asked why the NGO preferred emailing the Deputy Collector and the Captain of Ports instead of calling the Flying Squad. During a recent evening patrol, the CoP’s marine team de tained three boats at Camurlim. “These boats have been detained because their registra tion numbers are not visible. If the owners can satisfactorily explain why the registration numbers are missing, the boats will be released after payment of a fine,” a member of the marine team said. Routine inspections along Goa’s rivers remain an impor tant deterrent, another member of the marine team said. “This is one way of discouraging prospective sand miners from venturing into our waters,” he added.
