Nellore: Officers of AP’s red sanders task force were stunned when they found that Rs 11 crore had been deposited in dormant bank accounts of tribals in Jawadhu Hills in Tiru-vannamalai district of Tamil Nadu in the last 20 days.
About 400 women had deposited Rs 2.57 crore in their accounts in a single day at an Indian Bank branch at Jamunamarthuru in the tribal belt, the officials found.
Most woodcutters who come to the Seshachalam forest to chop red sander trees for smugglers are from the region in Tamil Nadu.
Officers suspect that the money belongs to Chennai-based smugglers who receive funds through hawala transactions from Gulf countries.
Officials collected the names of the depositors from the banks and are writing to the Income-Tax department to trace the source.
Andhra Pradesh red sanders team was following up cases
Task Force officials are familiar with the area as they have counselled women several times in the past to prevent their menfolk from venturing into the Seshachalam forest.
The team had gone to Tiruvannamalai to follow up on hundreds of cases filed against the tribals for smuggling as well as for killing two forest officers some time back.
A recent amendment to the Forest Act helped them to attach the properties of the offenders.
Red Sanders Task Force DIG M. Kanta Rao said the tribals of Jawadhu Hills were responsible for wiping out sandalwood trees in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka a few years back and were targeting 80 lakh red sanders trees located in 11 lakh acres in Seshachalam, Palakondalu, Nallamala and Velugonda forest.
