The Anti-Poaching Squad attached to the Tirupati Wildlife Division on Thursday seized over 160 logs of red sanders worth over Rs.1 crore in the international market, a tipper and a car near Pachhikapallam village in Vedurukuppam mandal of the district.
The seizure preceded a hot chase by the squad members after the smugglers from Kuppam Badhuru village to Pachhikapallam.
The smugglers, suspecting that they would be caught at the forest check-posts towards Karveti Nagaram and Puttur, abandoned their vehicles and fled into the nearby thickets.
The Divisional Forest Officer (East) confirmed the seizures, which were shifted to the area godown at Tirupati.
This happens to be considerably a big seizure of the contraband in Vedurukuppam mandal, which of late has witnessed frequent incidents of red sanders smuggling activity on the rural roads connecting Puttur-Chennai highway at various points.
The rural roads are said to be preferred by the smugglers for safe passage and escape in case of being detected.
