A combing party of the Andhra Pradesh State Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force on Wednesday nabbed five suspected red sanders smuggling operatives close to the Pincha Dam of Sundupalle mandal of Annamayya district and seized 20 top-grade red sanders logs worth about ₹1 crore, a car and three motorcycles from the spot.
The task force officials said that the combing party noticed the movement of the operatives while on the field under the Sanipaya range. Advancing, the task force personnel noticed a group of operatives on the errand of loading the logs into a car, while three persons were being positioned for piloting purpose. Seeing the task force party, some of the operatives fled into the forests, while five were nabbed and logs and the vehicles seized.
The five accused, aged between 20 and 35, hailed from Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts of Tamil Nadu. The officials registered a case and took up further investigation. Given the gradual influx of the operatives to fell and smuggle the precious wood, the task force authorities had deployed additional forces to flush them out.
