In a major breakthrough, the Chittoor Task Force personnel on Monday nabbed two notorious red sanders smugglers - Soundara Rajan at Hasira in West Bengal bordering Bhutan and Saravanan in Chennai - and seized red sanders logs worth over Rs. 10 crore in international market.
In all, four dumps were raided - two each in West Bengal and Chennai. While eight tonnes of wood were seized in West Bengal, another 4.5 tonnes were confiscated in Chennai.
Chittoor Superintendent of Police G. Srinivas told The Hindu that following reliable information, two special parties were formed, with DSPs, Circle Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors and striking force personnel, and they reached the two locations by flight. “Raids at these two locations took place between 10 p.m. on Sunday and 5 a.m. on Monday. Police in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu assisted our teams with armed parties,” the SP said.
“Soundara Rajan, hailing from Chennai and settled in Rangoon, is wanted in a number of criminal cases in India. He has links with smugglers and patrons in China, Bhutan and south east Asian countries. His arrest is considered vital to us. Similarly, Saravanan in Chennai is also most wanted by several States in the south, having links with smugglers overseas,” Mr. Srinivas said.
Mr Srinivas said the seized logs and the nabbed smugglers would be brought to Chittoor.
Meanwhile, preliminary investigation into the arrest of Soundara Rajan revealed that one of the two dumps in the rural side belonged to a local sitting MLA.
Logs worth more than Rs. 10 crore seized