The Chittoor police on Sunday night raided a red sanders dump and seized 8.4 tonnes of logs worth about ₹6.2 crore, and arrested a key accused on the outskirts of Bommanapalle village of Hosur taluk of Krishnagiri district.
Speaking to the media here on Monday, Superintendent of Police S. Senthil Kumar said that he along with DIG (Anantapur), Kanthi Rana Tata and Deputy SP (Madanapalle) A. Ravi Manohar Achari had formed a special team to undertake a special raid in Tamil Nadu, based on information from a red sanders smuggling accused on Saturday last.
The SP said that in the early hours of Saturday, a police team nabbed an accused near Chittoor. During interrogation, it was revealed that one Dasthagiri Imran Khan alias Imran Bhai (29), a resident of Bengaluru, was operating a secret godown in Krishnagiri district, procuring the red sanders logs and transporting them to Mumbai and New Delhi.On Sunday night, a flash raid was conducted at the Tamil Nadu location, leading to the arrest of Dasthagiri Imran Khan, and seizure of the huge dump, which was later shifted to the District Police Office grounds in Chittoor. The accused was booked under various sections of the IPC and was lodged at sub-jail in Chittoor on remand.
The SP warned that the operatives who fail to stop their illegal errands would be booked under the PD Act and dealt with sternly.
