Kurnool: Kadapa task force police on Saturday nabbed notorious red sanders smuggler and exporter Jitendra Mujeeb Bhai alias Moosa and his accomplice Mohammed Ghyas Ahmed, 36, from his hideout at Bengaluru, and recovered 119 red sanders logs worth Rs 5 crore weighing 2,918.5 kg.
A XUV 500, Scorpio and two Tata Ace vehicles were also seized from the hideouts of the smugglers, police said.
Moosa, 51, is the kingpin of smuggling operations having a vast network in the international market spanning China, Japan and Middle East.
Kadapa additional SP (operations) B. Lakshminarayana, sharing details of the operation, said that the Rajampet police arrested an international smuggler Gongana Leela Kumar at Rollamadugu Cross during routine checks on November 23.
Based on the information gathered from Leela Kumar, the police raided godowns of Moosa located on the outskirts of Bengaluru and recovered the sanders logs, he said.
Moosa is a native of Katigana Halli in Hosekote taluk of Karnataka. Originally a farmer, he has been smuggling red sanders since 2009. Mr Lakshminarayana said that 49 cases were registered against Moosa in Kadapa, Chittoor and Tirupati urban districts.
Ghyas Ahmed is a native of Bengaluru and has been in the trade since the past five years mainly providing logistic assistance to Moosa.
Leela Kumar, 27, is a native of Surappagari village in Pileru mandal of Chittoor district and was the marksman who arranged labourers and sent them into the reserve forest to cut the wood and make it into transportable sizes for his boss Moosa, police said.
