The Chittoor police on Saturday nabbed eight red sanders operatives and seized logs worth around ₹2 crore, after intercepting a consignment on its way to Chennai at the old Bengaluru bypass road on outskirts of Chittoor.
Along with the logs, weighing about two tonnes, the police also seized a lorry, two cars, and a motorbike.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Superintendent of Police Y. Rishant Reddy and Deputy SP N. Sudhakar Reddy announced the arrest of the accused and the seized contraband.
The officials said that a special team led by the Chittoor Rural East circle police was conducting vehicle checks at Murakambattu junction on the outskirts when they spotted a lorry, trailed by two cars and a motorbike, trying to escape them at high speed. The police, who were successful in intercepting them, arrested eight persons, while one escaped.
The police shifted the seized materials, including logs, vehicles, to the parade grounds here. The seizure also included five machetes, two axes, and five iron rods.
“During interrogation, the accused confessed to have been involved in the procurement of red sanders logs from the foothills of Tirumala and transporting them to Tamil Nadu,” the SP said.
The accused were identified as Gajendra (36), Kishore Kumar (37), Sivaram (36), Nagaraju (39), Harish (22), and T. Janardhan (20). Lokesh (35), Arvind (33) – all hailing from Chittoor and surrounding areas; and Thanji (30) from Vellore of Tamil Nadu.
While Gajendra was wanted in four red sanders smuggling cases, Kishore Kumar was accused in a murder case under Chittoor district limits. Thanji, who escaped from the spot, is wanted in 24 red sanders logs smuggling cases under various police stations in the Chittoor division.
Deputy SP Sudhakar Reddy said that surveillance was mounted on the highways and random checks were under way to contain the smuggling activity in the district.
