Tirupati: Appu (59) alias Kamasani Gopalakrishna Swamy was taken into custody by CBCID police in connection with excise crimes in Chittoor district during the general elections in May this year.
Incidentally, he was also one of the key accused in the 2002 sensational Sankararaman murder case at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu but was subsequently acquitted.
The CBCID cops took him into custody on November 29 under the A.P. Excise Act 1968 (Section 34A). He was subsequently sent to judicial remand by the CBCID court in Chittoor.
Srikalahasti police on Wednesday shifted him to Srikalahasti from the Chittoor Central jail on a PT warrant. Chittoor SP Mr. G Srinivas said that Appu was also wanted in connection with red sanders smuggling related cases in Srikalahasti constituency.
According to the Chittoor and Srikalahasti police Appu has links with several international smugglers and was wanted in red sanders smuggling related cases in Ramachandrapuram and Srikalahasti mandals.
Meanwhile, a senior police official observed that Appu was a notorious person in the police records of Tamil Nadu and that his links with the red sanders mafia would throw more light on further investigations in Tamil Nadu and in South East Asian countries.
His arrest and later developments were kept a secret due to security reasons, he said. The cops are now inquiring deeply into his overseas contacts with kingpins in the red sanders smuggling racket.
