The Andhra Pradesh State Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (APSRSASF) personnel, on Monday, nabbed as many as 20 red sanders smuggling operatives and seized red sanders logs worth ₹50 lakhs, a car, and a mini-van in three different places of Annamayya and Nellore districts.
According to the officials, a combing party was patrolling the forest section at Rajupalem beat of Kaluvayi mandal of Nellore district, when they spotted a large number of smuggling operatives entering the forests connecting the Seshachalam hills and the Penusila sanctuary. The operatives were surrounded and taken into custody, while a few others escaped.
In another incident, a task force team was conducting searches at SR Palem beat of Rajampeta range of Annamayya district, when a batch of smuggling operatives escaped into the forests, abandoning the logs they were carrying. The task force could nab one operative, identified as Kuppaswamy (28) from Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu.
Further, the task force arrested one operative, Syed Naushad (28) of Bengaluru, in the forests of Sundupalle of Sanipaya range of Annamayya district. Along with an SUV, five red sander logs were seized from it. The task force registered three different cases at its police station at Kapilatheertham in Tirupati and shifted the seizures to the area godowns.
