Thane, Jul 4 (PTI) The authorities in Maharashtra’s Thane district have destroyed equipment worth Rs 30 lakh that was being used to illegally dredge sand from a creek, an official said on Friday. During patrolling between the Kalyan Retibunder and Kumbharkhan Pada in Dombivli on Thursday, a team came across two barges and four suction pumps extracting sand from the creek, said tehsildar Sachin Shejal. Also Read | Jabalpur Bestiality Horror: Irked by Barking, Man Beats 5 Puppies to Death in Madhya Pradesh; Arrested. After being alerted, the enforcement team reached the area. Seeing them, the workers on board the barges and operating the suction pumps abandoned the equipment and fled, the official said. 鈥淪ince the two barges and four suction pumps were heavy, it was not possible to remove them from the creek basin. Therefore, the engines of the barges were filled with sugar and sand and damaged, and the barges were set on fire,鈥 said Shejal. Also Read | ‘Indian Diaspora Is Our Pride’: PM Narendra Modi Lauds Indian Community During Public Address in Trinidad and Tobago, Says ‘Each One of You an Ambassador of India’s Values, Culture and Heritage’ (Watch Video). The team also dismantled the pumping equipment to prevent any possible reuse, he said, adding that the total cost of the equipment is about Rs 30 lakh. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)