Tirupati: Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) seized red sanders worth around Rs 1 crore and a container truck used for its transportation on Thursday, during a vehicle check on the Chennai-Nellore National Highway near Tada Government Hospital. The team acted on a tip-off and a car and a truck coming from Chennai were stopped on the highway. Upon seeing the task force team, the occupants of the vehicles tried to flee, but five of them were caught. As many as 143 red sander logs weighing 1,664 kg were found hidden under agricultural equipment boxes inside the truck. The logs were being smuggled from Chennai to Kolkata.
The suspects, all hailing from Chennai, revealed that one of them had over 20 prior cases related to red sanders smuggling. He had also been detained under the Preventive Detention (PD) Act last year.
The inspection was led by RSASTF FAC Tirupati SP L. Subba Rayudu and SP P. Srinivas. Reserve inspector K. Suresh Kumar Reddy and Reserve SI Y. Vishwanath were also part of the team. A case was registered at the Tirupati RSASTF police station, and an investigation is on to nab the rest of the accused.
