240 smugglers arrested by police

Tirupati: With the district police administration taking up extensive combing operations across the Seshachalam forests over the last fortnight which led to an encounter in which three red sanders woodcutters were killed three days ago, the exodus of anti-social elements from the Seshachalam ranges appears to have begun.

With the special combing parties and the district police administration combing every inch of the Seshachalam forests over the last few days apart from sealing off the entry and exit points leading to the Seshachalam forests, 240 red sanders woodcutters fearing a face-off with the police tried to exit the forests and return home. They were taken into custody by the joint teams from the police department as well as the special task force at the Renigunta railway station in the early hours of Sunday.

The red sanders smugglers split themselves into two groups of 211 and 19 members, and bought tickets to Chennai at Railway Kodur in Kadapa district around midnight. While the first group of 211 members boarded the Mumbai-Chennai mail at around midnight, the second group consisting of 19 members boarded the Kacheguda-Egmore exp-ress later.

Meanwhile, with information of red sanders woodcutters trying to flee in large numbers reaching the railway police, the local police department and the special task force led by Task Force OSD Uday Kumar and Railways CI Madhusudhan Gupta intercepted the 230 woodcutters at the Renigunta railway station on Sunday.

The red sanders woodcutters were shifted to the waiting hall for identification by security agencies with the help of the railway tickets they brought at Railway Kodur. The security agencies after gaining further inputs continued searching the subsequent trains as well arriving at the Renigunta station.

Meanwhile, 80 mobile phones and deadly weapons were seized from the red sanders smugglers. The district police administration along with the special task force shifted the red sanders woodcutters to a local hall in Tiruchanur initially, and later handed them over to police custody.