3 Held With Rs 2-Cr Worth Red Sanders Logs in Anantapur
Task force busts interstate smuggling link
Tirupati: The Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) arrested three smugglers and seized 109 red sanders logs worth about Rs 2 crore during a special operation in Anantapur district on Wednesday.
Acting on specific information, RSASTF personnel and forest officials raided a shed at Bondalavada village in Narpala mandal and arrested Nallani Nanda Kumar, Nallani Jayaramayya and Bottu Raghavendra. A car used for transportation was also seized.
Officials said the red sanders logs were stored on agricultural land belonging to one of the accused. The total value of the seized timber and vehicle was estimated at around Rs 2 crore.
According to the task force, the accused were part of a network involved in felling red sanders trees in the Seshachalam forests and supplying the timber to smugglers in Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
RSASTF chief L. Subba Rayudu and superintendent of police P. Srinivas said special teams have been formed to trace other members of the interstate smuggling network.
