Staff Reporter:

A mobile court has sentenced four people to jail in different terms and fined Taka 3.5 lakh for illegally lifting sand in Padma River at Louhajang upazila of the district.

A Coast Guard team, led by Louhajang Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Md. Abdullah Imran, conducted a mobile court at Mawa Point on the Padma River and arrested four people on charges of illegally extracting sand from the river using a dredger.

The arrested were Abu Taleb, 50, Anwar Sheikh, 65, Md. Sabbir, 21, and

Parvez, 27.

Later, the mobile court sentenced Anwar Sheikh to three months jail and fined Taka 2 lakh, in default to suffer 30 days more in jail. The court also sentenced the remaining three people to 45 days jail each and fined Taka 50,000 each, in default, to suffer 15 days more in jail.

Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Md. Abdullah Imran said that the gang had been illegally extracting sand from the Padma River at night, defying government orders. Sand extraction in the area near the Padma Bridge is dangerous for the bridge.