Hyderabad: Illegal money from the smuggling of red sanders has reached Tollywood too. The Kurnool police alleged that notorious local red sanders smuggler K. Mastan Vali has produced several Telugu movies including Prema Prayanam. Vali is an YSRC leader and the Chagalamarri mandal president too.
The Kurnool superintendent of police, Mr A. Ravikrishna, had recently said, “Mastan Vali was arrested and his Innova car seized. He was imprisoned for three months under the Preventive Detention Act, but continued to smuggle red sanders after being released.”
Rudravaram SI, Mr K. Harinath Reddy, said, “Mastan Vali was an auto driver initially and used to sell vegetables. He was involved in around 15 cases of smuggling and earned crores of rupees.”
Not only Vali, there are several other top smugglers, according to the police, who spend lavishly and travel by air and own high-end SUVs and luxury vehicles.
According to an intelligence report prepared by the AP police, each red sanders smuggler has made Rs 80 to Rs 100 crore.
“One Selvaraj of Chennai would use a blue BMW and two similar cars following it to mislead cops. He was arrested while disguised as a burkha-clad woman. He transported the material from Chennai to China via Dubai,” stated the report.
Several other smugglers like Samuel of Mizoram, Nagarjan of Chennai, Hamid Khan of Karnataka, Vikram of Delhi, Riyaz of Karnataka, Moosa of Chennai and Lakshman of Chennai have been identified as top smugglers in the racket.
