In a fresh case against PRP Granites, facing criminal proceedings in a multi-crore granite quarry scam, nine people were arrested tonight, police said.

Among those arrested included the firm's director Suresh Kumar, son of the firm's owner Palaniswamy, and general manager Arumugam.

They were arrested on charges of illegally mining granites from 3.5 acre of land in CC Kanmoi in the district and destroying the evidence by closing the deep gorges formed during the mining, after the scandal was exposed, police said.

They had also illegally mined granite slabs worth several lakhs of rupees from 19 cents of land in Malapatti village without approval.

On a complaint from the local village administrative officer Akbar Sait, police arrested the nine people.

The government cracked down on the firms after former Madurai collector U Sahayam in a report last year estimated losses incurred from illegal granite mining at around Rs 16,000 crore.

It had last month informed the High Court that it had proposed to constitute a special court to inquire cases relating to the scam.