Thiruvambady: Two days after it gave the police the slip while attempting to dump toilet waste into a waterbody, a truck was finally tracked down and seized by the Thiruvambady police. The police also foiled an attempt by the actual culprits to get off the hook by putting forward a proxy driver and helper to pay a routine fine.

The police team, led by Sub-Inspector (SI) E.K. Ramya, has cracked down hard on the illegal septage racket.

The incident unfolded on Monday night when local residents spotted an unnumbered truck parked near a stream close to UC Mukku. Septage had reportedly been dumped into this same stream under the cover of darkness on six previous occasions. Alerted by the locals, a police team led by SI Ramya chased the vehicle. However, after a pursuit lasting nearly two hours, the culprits managed to escape.

Following this, a special squad was formed to track down the vehicle. Acting on actionable intelligence that the truck was spotted near Manjeri, the police swooped in and took it into custody. En route to the police station, the vehicle broke down and had to be towed in using a crane.

The charade orchestrated by the stand-ins fell apart under rigorous police interrogation. Cases were subsequently registered against the two proxies, identified as Nawas Shareef and Anees, both residents of Manjeri, for deliberately misleading the police. The seized truck will be produced before the court. SI Ramya confirmed that an intensive investigation is underway to track down the actual culprits and dismantle the racket operating behind the scenes.