Police also arrested two smugglers in different incidents and seized 10 red sanders logs and a car from them.
According to SP Srinivas of the RSASTF, teams carried out operations based on orders from the Kurnool range DIG Senthil Kumar. “The task force inspected the smugglers’ known entry and exit points abutting the Seshachalam forests.
In the first incident, a suspiciously parked car was spotted on Kudumandlapalli road under Sanipaya range of Sundupalli mandal. When task force personnel surrounded the car, the smugglers fled, but one of them was nabbed.
Five red sanders logs were recovered from the vehicle. Syed Naushad (28) from Bangalore was arrested and the car, a Hyundai, was seized.
In the second bust, a team led by RI Suresh Kumar Reddy and Vishnuvardhan Kumar left Tirupati and headed towards Rollamadugu and Ekasu Kuppam. Some smugglers were spotted carrying logs near Puttangimadugu in the Rajampet range. They attempted to flee but one smuggler, Elumalai Kuppuswamy (28) from Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, was captured. Five logs were recovered from the area.
In the third incident, personnel from the Railway Koduru task force sub control office conducted a combing operation near Kaluvai Mandapam of Nellore district. They arrested 18 Tamil Nadu-based smugglers, carrying axes and saws, when they were en route to the forest to illegally cut red sanders trees.
A van used by the smugglers was also seized. The cases have been filed at the Tirupati RSASTF police station and investigations are under way.
