Thiruvananthapuram, A statewide vigilance probe into illegal soil mining and transportation in Kerala has found that 14 officials across departments allegedly accepted bribes totalling ₹4.69 lakh through UPI transactions from soil contractors and applicants. IIlegal soil mining: Kerala Vigilance finds officials took ₹4.69 lakh bribe The inspections, carried out under “Operation Earth Guard” held on April 20, covered all 14 district Mining and Geology offices, 72 offices in select local self-government institutions and 360 locations flagged for suspected violations, according to an official statement on Tuesday. Acting on intelligence inputs about widespread irregularities, the vigilance department conducted surprise checks and found serious violations, including removal of soil beyond permitted limits and misuse of building permits for illegal excavation. In many cases, landowners obtained permits for construction, removed large quantities of soil, but failed to begin building work within the mandated onecyear period. In some instances, land was altered and later sold as sites after large-scale soil removal, it said. The probe also pointed to the involvement of organised groups engaged in illegal soil mining and …