Today, over 80 laborers from Tamil Nadu (TN) were arrested by the Andhra Pradesh (AP) Police at Anjaneyapuram near Tirupati. Based on a tip off, the police officials intercepted the truck coming from Arcot in TN. Police suspect the laborers were hired to cut down the red sanders trees in AP.
The Red Sanders Anti Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) SP Ravi Shankar said, “We formed separate teams and waited for the woodcutters. At 1:30 A.M. we found the truck carrying them under a tarpaulin at Anjaneyapuram. It was first observed at Chandragiri by one of the four teams and subsequently, the other teams were alerted.”
Shankar said they seized bags of rice, vegetables, axes and cooking vessels from the laborers. Shankar further added there were 2 students, pursuing post graduation among the laborers.
During the interrogation, a few laborers spilled the beans saying they were offered Rs. 600/Kg of red sanders. The kingpin of the red sanders smuggling network is still unknown.
Red sanders grow mainly in the Sesachalam hill region spread across Kadapa and Chittoor district in Rayalaseema. The red sanders hold a huge demand overseas, especially in Japan and China.
