In an inter-State operation, a 12-member red sanders smuggling gang was busted by the Nellore district police. Five tonnes of the precious wood worth Rs. 4 crore was seized from the accused. The police also seized three four-wheelers and some wooden artefacts belonging to the Sambal area in Uttar Pradesh.
The accused were said to be carrying out the illegal activity in the districts of Nellore, Prakasam and Kadapa besides Hyderabad, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The wood cut from the Rapur and Venkatagiri forests in Nellore district and some areas in Kadapa district was being illegally transported to North India via Hyderabad. It was being done under the guise of transporting cheap wood drawn from tamarind trees.
Hyderabad connection
The gang was busted following information provided by Hyderabad-based smugglers, Md. Ikram and Sayed Muzafar, who were caught while transporting six red sanders logs at the Musunuru toll plaza here four days ago.
Following this, the special parties constituted by SP Vishal Gunni went to Delhi where they arrested Md. Sirajuddin alias Siraj, Kamal Ahmad and Md. Asif, and seized red sanders logs and articles made of this precious wood from them. Mr. Vishal Gunni told The Hindu that following a tip-off, another police party checked a car at the Venkateswarapuram Centre and recovered 10 logs and arrested Sk. Mahaboob Basha and Kommi Mahesh.
On questioning, they gave information about a dump in the Venkatagiri area, from where the police recovered 228 logs and arrested five persons. The arrested were Md. Firoz Ali and Kotha Chandrapal Reddy of Hyderabad, Dontha Venkatasiva Prasad and Sk. Ramthu Basha of Kadapa district, and Thammisetty Kondaiah of the Dakkili area in Nellore district.
