Police personnel seized a dump of 136 red sanders logs weighing about four tonnes at an interior forest location in Vajgetikona, 20 km from Railway Kodur in Kadapa District in the early hours of Thursday.
The red sanders seized are valued at over Rs.7 crore in the international market. In the pre-dawn operation, two woodcutters from Tiruvannamalai were nabbed, while others escaped under cover of the darkness after stone-pelting at the cops.
The Red Sanders Anti Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) DIG, M. Kantha Rao, who rushed to the spot, said that about 50 woodcutters were engaged in felling the trees in Puligoru Penta location of the Seshachalam Hills.
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"After felling trees, the logs were brought to Vagetikona and a dump was created intended for a bulk lift. The woodcutters made it a five-day operation. The seized logs consisted of both A and B grade material," he said, adding that the police personnel who raided the location, had obtained information from the local sources about the mass movement of woodcutters and large-scale felling of trees in the area.
The officials said that during the last one month, the smugglers had laid focus on the Balapalle range of Kadapa District, which has the premier variety of logs, in addition to vast presence of red sanders trees. "A task force base camp is currently under construction at the Puligoru Penta location inside Seshachalam Hills," the DIG said.
Later, he presented cash rewards to the police personnel who took part in the operation. Railway Kodur Circle-Inspector Rasool Saheb said that acting on a tip-off, armed police personnel were deployed inside the forest, leading to the detection of the fresh dump.
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105 logs seized
A police combing party detected a red sanders dump in Vagetikona forest area in Railway Kodur mandal of Kadapa District on Thursday and seized 105 logs weighing three tonnes and valued at about Rs.3 crore in the international market, Kadapa Superintendent of Police Navin Gulati said on Thursday.
A police combing party spotted red sanders smugglers and attempted to arrest them, but they tried to escape by pelting stones at the police party, Mr. Gulati said.
However, the combing party nabbed two smugglers after a hot chase, he added.
Manhunt launched
A hunt was launched to nab the fugitives, the SP said.
The red sanders logs were seized when the smugglers were trying to transport them, he added.
Meanwhile, the police seized red sanders logs valued at Rs.20 lakh during vehicle checking on Badvel bypass road in Kadapa District on Thursday.
Police arrested three persons and seized a mini-van used to transport the logs.