Eight red sanders smugglers held

Task Force personnel open fire at smugglers in Seshachalam forests

Kadapa/Tirupati: The police arrested eight smugglers of red sanders and seized logs worth Rs 8 crore, officials said here on Saturday. The latest arrest is being seen as a major success for the police, which in the month of April gunned down 20 woodcutters in Seshachalam forests in Chittoor district.

According to initial reports, the details about the arrested smugglers were not immediately available. The woodcutters from Tamil Nadu were allegedly hired by red sander smugglers operating from that state.Meanwhile, after a lull for over two months, the Seshachalam forests on Saturday witnessed a skirmish between the Task Force personnel and alleged red sanders smugglers.

The Task Force personnel opened fired in the air when the alleged smugglers attacked them, according to officials According to information reaching here, a joint party of red sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RASTF) and Forest personnel came face to face with 40-50 alleged smugglers, when they were combing in Jarribanda forest area under Chandragiri mandal.

Finding the task force closely following them, the smugglers rained stones on them. The personnel then opened fire in the air. While most of the smugglers managed to escape by retreating into deep forests, five of them were caught by the joint force. As many as 12 red sanders logs were recovered from the spot, the officials said.

The arrested hailed from the villages in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. Two personnel suffered minor injuries when the alleged smugglers threw stones at them. When reports last came in, the joint party comprising a 30-strong force of 16 RASTF and 14 Forest personnel are combing the deep forest area to arrest those who managed give a slip to them.