Tirupati: Yellow dress, Govinda Mala to dupe cops at Seshachalam forest

Tirupati: Woodcutters from Tamil Nadu have been devising new strategies to divert the attention of task force when they enter the Seshachalam forest and decamp with red sanders logs.

Task Force officials were baffled when they stumbled upon two persons, among 23 woodcutters, who were sporting yellow clothes and claimed to be on Govinda Mala Deeksha at Seshachalam forest close to Srivari Mettu in Tirupati rural mandal early on Monday.

They retreated from the scene after dropping the logs they were carrying when they noticed the five member task force team, after pelting stones at them.

The team led by Reserve sub-inspector Vasu fired in air to protect themselves. The SI sustained bleeding injuries in the incident. Though a majority of woodcutters escaped, the team managed to catch hold of two persons in Govinda Mala.

Task force DIG M. Kantha Rao, who reached the spot straight from Tirumala after the darshan in traditional dress, expressed concern over methods being adopted by TN woodcutters to dupe the task force.

Referring to the arrests and cases being filed against them, he said that they are managing to obtain bail and coming back with a different name and even carrying an Aadhaar card with the new name.

Reminding that five lakh hectare among 10 lakh hectare of Seshachalam forest was dotted with precious red sanders trees, he said that it is gigantic task to control smuggling by a mere 120 strong task force or other agencies stressing the need for a serious debate on the issue by all the stakeholders to contain the menace.

Mr Kantha Rao said "80 per cent of woodcutters from Tamil Nadu are tribals and SCs/STs and the government should provide them employment to dissuade them from the crime, which fetches them Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 each time."

According to the DIG, most of the time the group does not know each other and they are not concerned if anyone is injured. The smugglers bring 20 to 30 of them in small vehicles and dump them close to the forest.

Pointing to a section of media in Tamil Nadu targeting him, he said that he had nothing against anyone and he is only doing his duty.