An armed reserve constable of the Andhra Pradesh State Anti-Red Sanders Task Force (APSRSTF), Ganesh (30), was killed when a car smuggling red sanders logs fatally knocked him down near Chinnepalle on the KV Palle-Sundupalle forest road, 30 km from Piler, in Annamayya district in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to information, a batch of ten personnel of the Task Force from Tirupati reached the forest road on Monday midnight and was patrolling the stretch, based on a tip-off about the movement of red sanders smuggling operatives.
Around 3.00 am, the Task Force team tried to stop a speeding car, after parking their patrol vehicle on the left side. However, the car carrying the contraband along with three inmates, swerved to the right in a bid to escape. In this process, the car knocked down Ganesh, who later died due to critical injuries while on the way to the Government Hospital at Piler.
In confusion, the driver of the car jumped the road and plowed into the fields. Other members of the task force team chased the fleeing operatives and could apprehend two of them, while one escaped under the cover of darkness. Along with the car, the task force seized red sander logs worth Rs 40 lakhs in the international market.
Task Force SP P. Srinivasulu from Tirupati and Annamayya district SP B. Krishna Rao from Rayachoti rushed to the spot and inspected the ground conditions.
The deceased constable, Ganesh, who recently received letters of appreciation from his superiors during the recent Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations, hails from Puttaparthi of Satya Sai district.
