The Moga police has arrested 22 persons involved in illegal transportation of sand and seized 22 tractor-trailers and seven trucks during the past 24 hours. Another 11 accused managed to escape from the police net. The police has also seized one JCB machine from Kamalke village in Dharamkot sub-division, which was being used at the mining sites. After an intensive drive against illegal sand mining in the past couple of weeks, the police is now following leads to arrest the kingpin of the racket who reportedly enjoys political patronage. A police official said an organised network of sand mafia had been active in the area for the past several years, causing huge revenue losses to the state government. The Sutlej passes through the district along its border with Ferozepur, Tarn Taran and Jalandhar. Senior Superintendent of Police KJS Dhillon said prima facie it appeared that mining was done in the areas falling within the boundaries of Ferozepur and Jalandhar districts and sand was transported to the Malwa belt through Moga. Some of the farmers had also leased out their land for illegal mining in the border areas. The illegal sand mining gained momentum in the past couple of weeks with the weakening of the monsoon and receding of water level in the river. Besides, the construction activity that was halted due to the monsoon has also been resumed resulting into an increased demand for sand which in turn led to a spur in the mining activity.