4 Red sandalwood smugglers held in Tirupati

Alipiri: The police foiled the strategy of Tamil smugglers who tried to make use of the devotees crowed at the Lords annual Brahmotsavam for red sandalwood smuggling. The smugglers posed as devotees have performed puja to their vehicle in which red sandalwood logs were kept and proceeded towards Tamil Nadu from Tirumala on Thursday.

In a middle way, they were caught by the task force police at Alipiri checkpoint. The police have taken four smugglers into custody and seized the vehicle. In addition, 13 red sandalwood logs were also recovered from their possession.

Ironically, it was the fifth attempt in which the same vehicle (TN 07 AL 3903) was used for smuggling. The arrested smugglers are Murugesan Jaipal (25), Ramalingam Arunachalam (30), Bhupal Kandaswamy (27) and driver Perumal (35)