The Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) personnel combing the Seshachalam forests behind the Police Training College (PTC), 5 km off Kalyani Dam point under the Tirupati wildlife circle, fired in the fire when a large group of red sanders smugglers and hired workers tried to attack the combing party on Monday night.
A senior official of the Task Force said that a Sub-Inspector (Reserved) of the party and an armed guard fired two rounds in the air to quell the smugglers who resorted to stone pelting.
One smuggler, said to be from Tamil Nadu was caught and 30 red sanders logs were also seized from the spot. The combing party also detected the movement of hired loggers and smugglers from Tamil Nadu at Sacchinodi Banda point and at the eastern flank of Tirumala hills.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and Task Force chief M. Kantha Rao is monitoring the situation. Meanwhile, Members of the Tamil Nadu intelligence wing were learnt to have enquired with their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh about the 89 loggers from that State who were arrested a few days ago.The Task Force sleuths had picked up the loggers from a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus at Nendragunta on the Tirupati-Chittoor highway. The Task Force informed the Tamil Nadu officials that the arrested loggers had been produced before the court and remanded to Kadapa Central Prison.
