The Byatarayanapura police on Friday busted an inter-State red sanders smuggling racket and arrested five persons in two separate cases and seized 1,693 kg of red sanders worth ₹2.6 crore from them.
The accused were waiting for their clients to sell the endemic wood logs when a team of police led by Shankar Naik raided new timber layout near Satellite bus stand and caught Vinod Rajendra red-handed and seized 17 kg of red sanders and a bike from him. Based on his information, the police raided his house in Hesaraghatta and recovered 1,580 kg of red sanders which he had hidden in a sump of his house.
Inquiries revealed that he was part of the inter-State gang which gets the consignment from the neighboring Andhra Pradesh to sell the wood and share the profit with his associates. The accused were using motorcycles to smuggle wood in small quantities in the backpacks from the neighbouring State to hoodwink staff at the check post and police.
Based on his information, the police team raided a premises near underpass junction on NICE road Nandi link road and arrested four persons and recovered 113 kg of red sanders from them. The police are now investigating to ascertain the smuggling network and where such a huge quantity of red sanders were going to, a police officer said.
