Vellore district has turned into one of the major transit points to smuggle red sander logs from Andhra Pradesh to Chennai and Bangalore.
Police seized red sander logs being transported in vehicles, particularly cars, several times in the recent past. On Tuesday, police arrested two Tiruvannamalai residents – Selvam (20) of Polur and Ramarajan (24) of Jamanamaruthur, and seized 23 logs of red sander weighing 746 kg when they were travelling in a car near Sholinghur.
In previous incidents, cars carrying these logs were abandoned following accidents. In the last one month alone, two such cars were found near Katpadi, while another vehicle was found at Arapakkam near Ratnagiri. In each incident, police recovered at least 17 to 18 red sander logs.
The smugglers have a modus operandi. Two or three persons travel on two-wheelers about two km ahead as “pilots” for the vehicles smuggling the logs to check the presence of police or patrol teams.
One of the most commonly used route is via Pernambut. From here, smugglers travel via Vellore to transport the logs to Chennai. Forest department officials said they enter the district wherever it shares its border with Andhra Pradesh, including Vaniyambadi, Gudiyatham, Ponnai, Christianpet near Katpadi and Sholinghur. When they sight police checks, the smugglers take the lanes and streets to avoid being caught, say police sources.
“One of the main destinations is Red Hills in Chennai. Red sander logs are smuggled to places such as Delhi, Kolkata and Tuticorin for the international market via sea and also air,” a forest officer said.
Multiple uses
Red sanders has medicinal value and is also used to make a musical instrument. “In China and Japan, people believe that keeping a red sander log at home helps in warding off evil. There are three grades to determine the quality of red sanders. The best fetches up to Rs. 10 lakh per tonne in the country, while it costs Rs. one crore in the foreign market,” says a forest officer.
Money-spinnerThe tree must be at least 30 years old. Its colour and sound determine its value. There are four grades to determine the quality of red sander trees –A, B, C and non-grade.
Last year, a tonne of C-grade red sander logs was auctioned at the Forest Department’s sandalwood sale depot at Tirupattur for Rs. 7.64 lakh. This year, the rate could be about Rs. nine lakh. In the black market, a tonne of red sander logs fetches not less than Rs. 15 lakh for smugglers, forest officials said.
