At least 100 smugglers from TN and AP flew to UAE to attend the wedding
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Hyderabad: At least 100 smugglers from Tamil Nadu and AP flew to the United Arab Emirates to attend the wedding of the daughter of a top international red sanders smuggler, Sahul Hameed, in Dubai. Sahul Hameed a native of Chennai has been residing in Dubai for the past few years and operating a smuggling network.
A top official of AP police confirmed to this correspondent that a continuous tab on the smugglers revealed that a few days ago at least 100 persons linked to red sanders smuggling booked the same flight from Chennai by Emirates.
“Chittoor and Tirupati police tried to nab them at the airport but in vain,” said the top official. A terror angle to red sanders smuggling is also emerging slowly as several enforcement agencies, including Intelligence Bureau and Karnataka police, are working on a tip off that suspects, a part of Dubai based modules, are believed to have been involved in a terror case in Bengaluru.
Police sources said, “This network is too big. Shahul Hameed owes at least Rs 70 crore to Kollam Gangi Reddy who is now in Mauritius and his extradition is being delayed as the network has been working against it. When the agencies requested the UAE to deport Sahul Hameed it refused stating he was not involved in any offence in their country.” Police said one Kandaswamy Venkatesh, who was arrested by Kadapa police, earlier jumped bail recently and his whereabouts are not known.
Red sanders smuggled by land to China:
Land route to China through Pakistan for Red Sanders smuggling is a big worry for law enforcement agencies in both state and Central-level. Sustained investigations by AP police revealed that around 1,000 tonnes of red sanders were sent out of AP in the past few months through the land route after several law enforcement agencies focussed on the sea route at ports and air cargo. “Now, they are using the land route more as DRI, ED and Customs have become active all over. From Dubai it’s going to Pakistan and then to China. The other route is from WB to Bangladesh or Burma and then to China,” said an official.
( Source : dc )
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