Smugglers assets go untouched

Hyderabad: Red sanders smugglers may breathe easy. The forest department and the police are not confiscating their properties. They may just walk out of jail on bail, back to their fruits of crime.

They are booked under non-bailable sections and chargesheets are not filed on time. Most top smugglers own palatial buildings and luxury cars, say officials.  AP biodiversity chairman Dr R. Hampaiah said, “Smugglers have grown extremely rich.

Even local politicians are involved. Their assets are not attached. Neither foresters nor the police is booking cases under IPC and AP Biodiversity Acts. Until the attack on foresters, they were booked under bailable sections.”

Next: Smugglers invest money in land

Smugglers invest money in land

Hyderabad: Only wood cutters are caught. Most of the top smugglers are absconding. Police and forest officials are failing to exercise the provisions of CrPC regarding confiscation of the properties of red sanders smugglers, officials said

Smugglers in Kadapa and Chittoor districts were found investing in huge chunks of agriculture lands. Sources in the Special Task Force said that Balaraju alias Balu, who was arrested recently by the Tirupati police, was a driver and had not even passed Std. VII; he is a crorepati now. Top smugglers Shabuddin, son of Yakum Khan of Katiganhalli in Bangalore district, Senthil of Chennai, Shahul Hameed and Reddy Narayana of Kadapa are all very very rich.

“In fact, Reddy Narayana was about to contest for an Assembly seat. Most of the smugglers are not chargesheeted. In 2013, the forest department didn’t file any chargesheets in red sanders smuggling case,” said a police official.

Although the Enforcement Directorate attached the properties of notorious red sanders smuggler Ajit Satam in June 2013 and confiscated eight luxury cars, the state forest department and police have not taken any cue from it.

ED found that Satam earned Rs 40 crore by smuggling red sanders worth Rs 104 crore. He used to smuggle red sanders from AP and send them to Dubai. ED has registered a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against him.

Recently, the state forest department has written to the ED regarding Chinese nationals involved in red sanders smuggling. ED officials are yet to take up the case as there is no clarity on whether Red Sanders is a prohibited good after the government allowed international trade. Officials say that the local police can use CrPC to attach the properties of smugglers, even if it cannot do anything under PMLA.

After the recent incident of killing of foresters, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had ordered forest and police departments to attach the properties of smugglers. “The Tirupati police has begun the process of attaching 30 acres of one of the smugglers,” said Chittoor Superintendent of Police P.H.D. Ramakrishna.