Udupi (The Hindu): Members of the District Federation of Mahila Mandals staged a dharna in front of the Clock Tower here on Thursday demanding stern legal action against those involved in the attack on Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis and her team, when they raided an illegal sand extraction unit at Kandlur village near Kundapur on April 3.

Addressing the gathering, Sheela K. Shetty, vice-president of the zilla panchayat, said that Ms. Francis had decided to conduct a surprise visit because of a lot of complaints.

There were also complaints that the extractors got prior information of the raids through leaks, she said. Hence, the DC went with a small team because she did not want the information about the raids to be leaked.

While nothing happened to the team during the raid on the illegal sand extraction site at Halnadu, they were attacked when they conduct a raid in Kandlur.

“If officers are going to be attacked when they go about doing their work sincerely, then how can they discharge their duties? Ms. Francis’s courage and determination has to be appreciated. But the attack also showed the tough situations which women officers have to face,” she said.

The government should form a separate sand policy for the coastal districts.

Traditional sand extraction should be permitted in these districts. People are also confused with terminologies such as extraction in Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and non-CRZ areas.

The federation condemned the attack on Ms. Francis, Assistant Commissioner Shilpa Nag, Ms. Franics’ gunman Prithviraj and Village Accountant Kantharaj.