TIRUCHY: Lorry owners of Thanjavur on Friday approached the District Collector seeking action against a sand quarry contractor, who has been allegedly forcing them to pay Rs 3,000 per load of gravel sand.

According to the lorry owners’ association, around 70 persons operate lorries and transport red-sand and gravel sand, but the Pudukkottai-based sand quarry contractor S Ramachandran has been demanding an amount of Rs 3,000 per load. The lorry owners claimed that Ramachandran has been threatening them that their livelihood will be affected if they fail to give money.

Submitting a petition with the district collector Deepak Jacob, the association stated that Ramachandran has been demanding Rs 3,000 per load and he has also been threatening to file cases against them with the support of the police.

The members said that they approached the officials of the mines department but they failed to take any action against Ramachandran. They said that they would surrender their vehicles to the collector if the collector fails to initiate action against the sand quarry contractor. They also submitted a similar petition with the SP.