Tirupati: The Redsanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF), which regularly conducts combing operations in the forests and checks vehicles to nab smugglers, for the first time conducted a cordon and search operation on Saturday.
The task force team with 115 personnel, under the supervision of DSPs S.V. Sridhar Rao and Harinath Babu, cordoned off and searched every house in Chaitanyapuram, a vulnerable place for smuggling, in Renigunta mandal.
The task force team had anticipated that smugglers would illegally transportat redsanders taking advantage of the local police being mobilised for Srivari Brahmotsavams and launched a pre-emptive operation.
The operation was mounted on the instructions of DIG M. Kanta Rao
There were reports that some villages located on the outskirts of Tirupati and Renigunta had become shelters for the redsanders smugglers, where they store precious logs with support from some villagers.
The task force team inquired about the new entrants and asked for identification of every person there. They searched for free gifts distributed by the Tamil Nadu government like Amma sarees to check whether they had been gifted by smugglers. They also searched for axes and saws used to fell trees.
Women of the village were counselled by officials and asked to keep a close watch on the movements of their husbands when they left home for work and for how many days they were away. The police should be informed whenever any visitor especially from Tamil Nadu turns up, they said.
The officials briefed them about the stringent Forest Act where the accused, if found guilty in redsanders smuggling, would be seriously punished.
The officials later visited the government primary school.
According to Mr Sridhar Rao, after getting information about the increase in the movement of smugglers the task force was implementing various strategies to nab the criminals.
“We have a long list of suspects from the village," he said.
