2 red sander smugglers arrested, 95 logs worth Rs 1 cr recovered

Kadapa: In a major breakthrough forest officials have seized RS 1crore worth 95 red sander logs and lorry by arresting two smugglers at Chelimibavi village of Kasinayina Mandal wee hours of Friday.

The accused were identified as M. Veeranarayana, G. Sudhakar Ramapuram village of Kalasapadu mandal.

According to the Proddatur DFO Guruprabhakar following tip-off forest staff conducted raids at Jyothi forest beat near Chelimibavi village and arrested the accused while transporting precious wood by lorry. The DFO said Veeranarayana earlier worked as forest watcher in the department.

He was removed from the Service on the charges of extending support to the smugglers in different ways. After he was removed from the service joined hands with smugglers indulging in the illegal trade of red sander smuggling.

The DFO detailed that based on information provided by an unidentified person last late night on Thursday, kasinayana Mandal forest officer Dinesh Reddy along with his staff conducted raids and arrested the duo while loading red sander logs in the lorry. A case has been registered by Porumamilla police.