Angry residents in Balirchar village of Nadia’s Santipur grabbed two mechanised boats and sank one in the Hooghly river on Wednesday morning when they found men with sharp-edged weapons illegally extracting soil from the river bank and piling it on the boats.

Illegal soil extraction erodes the embankment, putting farmland and homes at risk of flooding, farmers said.

A big stretch of farmland in the village got submerged in the Hooghly earlier this week triggering panic among 500-odd families in the area. Residents blamed random and illegal extraction of earth for the inundation.

Criminals allegedly supply soil to brick kilns that have mushroomed on the other side of the river under Kalna subdivision of East Burdwan.

On Wednesday, villagers chased the boats laden with illegally extracted soil. The men in boats jumped in the river and swam off to escape. Villagers sank one boat in anger. They pulled another ashore and called the police.

The police have assured the villagers of increasing vigilance along the river bank.

An officer of Santipur police station said: “The area is isolated and that helps the soil mafia. We will deploy civic volunteers to work in coordination with the villagers. We will also take up the matter with district officials, requesting them to urge the East Burdwan administration to take action against soil theft.”

An officer of Nadia district land and land reforms department said they would continue with their raids to stop illegal excavation of soil, otherwise land erosion would increase.