The body of one of the two sand racketeers, who had jumped into Mahaweli River as the Navy attempted to apprehend them, has been recovered in Kinniya, Trincomalee.
Search operations are being carried out to recover the body of the other sand racketeer, who jumped into the river along with the deceased, the police said.
A group of Navy personnel, acting on a tip-off received by them, had arrived near the Savaru Bridge in Kinniya this morning (29) to arrest a group of people involved in illegal sand mining.
The suspects had fled the scene upon the arrival of the Navy officials, while two of the racketeers had jumped into the water and went missing in an attempt to flee from the officers.
This resulted in a tense situation between the residents of the area who had gathered at the location and the navy personnel, who were on the raid.
