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.
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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.
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