Two persons were arrested from the Sagar area of South 24-Parganas on Saturday for alleged theft of geo-synthetic textile sheets which are used by the state’s irrigation department to protect the vulnerable earthen dykes from being washed away in heavy rain and high tides.

Subhajit Sardar and Uttam Sardar were produced in the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Kakdwip on Sunday and remanded in judicial custody for 10 days

Concerned over the increasing theft of geo-synthetic textile sheets, the irrigation department had lodged separate complaints at the Sagar and Ganga Sagar police stations. The Sunderbans district police conducted raids in various areas, arrested two persons and recovered about 50 square meters of the sheets.

Irrigation department sources said at least 600 square meters of the geo-synthetic textile sheets had been stolen, rendering the embankments vulnerable once again.

The sheets cost around Rs 255 per square meter, said an official.