Two men have been arrested in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district for allegedly running a WhatsApp group through which they shared information about the movements of government officials with people involved in illegal mining, helping them evade checks by authorities, officials said on Friday.

Source: IANS via Mumbai Press

The Bhavnagar Local Crime Branch (LCB) arrested the accused on October 29 after the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Bhavnagar Rural suspected that they were keeping watch on the movements of government officials from near the old Collector's office, police said.

Audio alerts for Rs 1,000 a month

According to police, the two men were allegedly operating a WhatsApp group named 'Jai Ramadhani', to which they had added people involved in illegal mineral excavation and transportation. They allegedly monitored the movement of vehicles used by the SDM and other government officials and relayed the information through audio messages in the group. "The accused allegedly charged each member Rs 1,000 a month for sharing information about the officials' movements," police said.

The SDM, M D Parmar, alerted the police after suspecting the two men, who were sitting near the entrance of the old Collector's office, and subsequently lodged a complaint at Nilambaug police station, following which an offence was registered. An LCB team detained the two men, and police said they admitted during questioning to running the WhatsApp group. The arrested men have been identified as Bhagirathsinh Vala, a resident of Shramjivi Society near Shivaji Circle in Bhavnagar, and Rohit Rathod, a resident of Ruva village on Airport Road. Police seized a motorcycle and a mobile phone from them.