The Chittoor police on Friday nabbed a 12-member gang from Tamil Nadu on charges of smuggling red sanders logs. Police said they seized red sanders logs worth ₹28 lakh, along with three cars used to transport the logs from Tirupati to Vellore in Tamil Nadu.
Deputy SP (Law and Order) N. Sudhakar Reddy said that acting on reliable information about the movement of the accused in three cars carrying the logs towards Vellore, special parties were formed. In the early hours of Friday, the three cars were intercepted at Gollamadugu village on the NH close to the Tamil Nadu border and 12 persons were nabbed.
On inspection, the cars were reportedly found laden with red sanders logs. Preliminary interrogation revealed that the gang had procured the logs from Seshachalam hills, and was on its way to sell the goods to an agent in Vellore, police said.
One of the accused, Nanda Krishan (28) of Polur town of Tiruvannamalai district of T.N., was identified as the gang leader. The eleven others are in the age group of 25-45, and hailed from Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, and Chennai.
The Deputy SP said that following a spurt in red sanders smuggling activity in recent weeks, surveillance was mounted along the national highways and other major roads leading towards Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
