5 arrested for red sanders log smuggling; property worth Rs. 60 lakh recovered

Kadapa: Kadapa police arrested five red sandal smugglers and seized 45 red sandal logs weighing 1.5 tons and three cars on Monday morning at Kailasagiri area near Chennuru. The Kadapa sub-divisional police officer U Suryanarayana held a press conference at district police parade grounds on Monday morning.

Upon receiving a tip-off, DSP Suryanarayana ordered RIMS inspector Satya Babu, Chennuru and RIMS sub-inspectors Varalakshmi, Vidyasagar and other staff to jointly make a search in Chennuru forest’s Kailasagiri area. During their search, the police found five red sandal smugglers and two Tamil labourers, who were trying to shift the red sandal logs. The smugglers noticed the police and attacked them with axes and stones. However, the police emerged successful in arresting five persons, who two managed to escape.

Upon interrogation from the five arrested, the police conducted searches at Kailasagiri and found 45 red sandal logs and three vehicles. The red sandal logs weigh 1.5 tons and are valued at approximately Rs 30 lakh. Besides this, three cars were also recovered, which were valued at Rs. 30 lakh. The police seized six mobile phones and two axes.

The five arrested are Shaik Sympathy Lal Basha, Shaik Symapathy Zakeer, Shaik Sympathy Chan Basha, Chinnaswamy Tirupathi and Tirthan Palani Swamy. The superintendent of police Abhishek Mohanty congratulated the police and forest staff for the successful operation.