Indian bishop, priests arrested for illegal sand mining

A Catholic bishop of Eastern-rite Syro-Malankara Church and his five priests were arrested on charges of alleged illegal sand mining, but Church officials said they are being implicated in the case.

Bishop Samuel Mar Irenios and five priests including a vicar general of Pathanamthitta Diocese in southern Kerala state were arrested by neighboring Tamil Nadu state’s crime branch officials accusing them of illegally mining river sand.

The case pertains to large-scale mining of river sand from a plot of land adjacent to a check dam on Thamirabarani river near Pottal in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district.

The 300-acre plot is owned by the Pathanamthitta diocese and was leased out to Manuel George for farming. But since diocesan officials could not visit the site during the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, George indulged in illegal mining activities.

When he was caught and the contract terminated, George tried to implicate the bishop and priests, who were arrested and remanded to judicial custody by a local court.

Bishop Irenios, 69, and Father Jose Chamakala, 69, though were admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Tirunelveli, as they fell ill soon after their arrest.

The other arrested priests – Father George Samuel, 56, Father Shaji Thomas, 58, Father Jijo James, 37, and Father Jose Kalaviyal, 53 – have been lodged in Nanguneri jail.

George was arrested earlier but claimed in self-defense that he was not guilty and pointed out that the real owners of the plot were the bishop and priests, Church sources said.

Father Joel P John Powath, the public relations officer of the Pathanamthitta diocese, confirmed the police action to UCA News on Jan. 8.

A senior priest on the condition of anonymity said the 300-acre agricultural plot with coconut and gooseberry plantations was owned by the diocese for the past 40 years.

“It was leased to a native of Kottayam [in Kerala state] for farming. But he committed malpractices without our knowledge and carried out sand mining in adjacent plots of land,” the priest added.

The district officials conducted an inspection in September 2020 and found sand had been illegally mined and transported for commercial purposes.

Local residents and environmentalists protesting the illegal activities then approached the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, which transferred the investigations from the local police to the state crime branch for further probe.

Crime branch officials suspect the illegal activities were carried out in connivance with the owners of the land and hence arrested the bishop and five priests.

Following the arrest, senior diocesan officials rushed to Tirunelveli on Feb. 6 to secure their release on bail.

The news shook the Christian community, especially Catholics across Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as it is for the first time a Catholic bishop and priests had been arrested on charges of illegal sand mining.