Rain water sinks police boat in the Periyar

ALUVA: A mechanised boat given to the Aluva police by the Home Department to prevent illegal sand mining in the Periyar sank on Monday night after it was filled with rain water.Heavy rain has been lashing the area since Monday night. The boat was anchored at Kottarakadavu near the Government Guest House here. Acting on the information, CI K B Prafulla Chandran arranged local people and the police personnel to lift the boat. They succeeded in recovering the boat by Tuesday noon.Prafulla Chandran told Express that he had used the boat to intercept a country boat transporting river sand a couple of days ago. The allegation that the boat was not maintained properly is baseless, he added.