Tirunelveli/Pathanamthitta: Bishop Samuel Mar Irenios, head of the Syro-Malankara Diocese of Pathanamthitta, was arrested by Tamil Nadu Crime Branch CID at Amba Samudram on Saturday. Vicar-general Shaji Thomas Manikulam and four other priests were also arrested in a case pertaining to illegal sand mining from the Thamirabarani river near Pottal.
Though all arrested were remanded in judicial custody by the Tirunelveli district court, Bishop Irenios, 69, and Fr Jose Chamakala, 69, were admitted to Government Medical College Hospital, Tirunelveli, as they fell ill soon after the arrest. Priests George Samuel, 56, Shaji Thomas, 58, Jijo James, 37, and Jose Kalaviyal, 53, have been lodged in Nanguneri jail. Manuel George of Kottayam was arrested earlier in the case.
A CB-CID police official said Manuel had obtained a licence for storing, processing and consuming rough stone, gravel, crusher dust and M-sand in a 300-acre plot of land adjacent to a check dam at Pottal in South Kallidaikurichi village in Tirunelveli for five years from November 29, 2019. The land is owned by the bishop and the Pathanamthitta diocese had given it on lease to Manuel.
Under the leadership of George, large-scale mining of river sand from the Vandal Odai check dam and the adjacent areas had been taking place. In September 2020, the then sub-collector of Cheranmahadevi inspected the site and assessed that 27,774 cubic metres of sand had been illegally mined and transported for commercial purposes. He imposed a penalty of `9.57 crore on the landowners under the Tamil Nadu Mines and Minerals Concession Rules, 1959. The sub-collector also suspended the Veeranallur SI for aiding in carrying out the sand theft.
Local residents and environmentalists who had led a campaign against illegal sand mining had approached the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, citing these activities. Last year, the bench directed the case be transferred from Kallidaikurichi police station to CB-CID for further probe. The CB-CID arrested the bishop and five priests as they suspected that the illegal activities were carried out in connivance with the owners of the land.
The 300-acre land was being used for agriculture and coconut and gooseberry were cultivated there in the past. “Later, it was leased to a Kottayam native for farming. But he committed malpractices without our knowledge and carried out sand mining in adjacent plots of land that don’t have title deeds. The bishop and the priests were summoned for interrogation,” a senior priest of the diocese said. Following the arrest, senior diocesan officials rushed to Tirunelveli on Sunday. The priest said proceedings for filing the bail pleas are being finalised.