The Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force on August 14 (Monday) arrested 48 smuggling operatives from the Seshachalam Hills in Tirupati and Annamayya districts and seized 51 logs of A-grade variety worth more than ₹2 crore.
Task Force Deputy SP Chenchu Babu told the media that acting on a tip-off about the movement of smuggling operatives in the Seshachalam Hills, three teams were pressed into action on August 13 (Sunday) night.
The teams intercepted the operatives at three different locations in the two districts. A combing party accosted a batch of smuggling operatives in the Perumallapalle beat of Tirupati Wildlife Circle near Tirupati when they were loading the logs into a car. The red sanders logs and car were seized.
A task force team detected the movement of smuggling operatives near Sundupalle village in Sanipaya range in the Annamayya district. Seeing the team, the operatives tried to escape, but several of them were nabbed, and the logs were seized.
A combing party arrested a batch of operatives at Arimanubanda Junction in the forests at Balapalle range of Annamayya district, leading to the seizure of logs and arrest of the accused.
The Deputy SP said that all the arrested operatives in three incidents were aged between 20 and 55, and a majority of them hailed from the north-western districts of Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka and Chittoor district.
In total, two cars, an autorickshaw, and six bikes were also seized. The accused have been sent to remand.
