VIJAYAWADA: Tirupati-Chennai highway in Andhra Pradesh witnessed a filmi-style car chase between red-sanders smugglers and Task Force team in the early hours of Thursday, leading to the arrest of two smugglers and seizure of 100 tonnes of red sanders logs.
Acting on a tip-off, the team headed by CI Ashok Kumar began a search operation on the Tirupati-Narayana Vanam road. After a few hours, the team noticed a lorry moving from Narayana Vanam and heading towards Tirupati-Chennai highway. They followed the lorry up to Nagari Mandapam, but the smugglers began to speed up.
However, the team alerted the nearest check post staff, and set up a roadblock on the outskirts of Nagari, leading to the arrest of the smugglers.
The police said, the duo, Mani and Palavardhan Reddy, hailing from Nagari and Kadari respectively were trying to transport the logs from a loading point in Narayana Vanam to Poonamalle in Chennai, following the orders of an unidentified kingpin.
The vehicle used by the accused had a fake registration number, said the police.
The smugglers were taken into custody for further investigation, added the police.