NELLORE: Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force, along with local police, conducted raids in Kovur, Udayagiri, Kaluvai and Gudur rural mandals and also in Bitragunta police station limits and arrested 16 red sanders smugglers, including inter-state and local smugglers.
The task force also nabbed a forest beat officer during the raids, who had worked as a pilot for the illegal transportation of red sanders logs. The task force seized 45 red sanders logs weighing 893 kg and worth `1 crore, two cars, four trucks, five motorcycles, one mini-truck, 24 mobile phones and `17,400 cash from them.
Disclosing this to newsmen here on Wednesday, OSD Crimes TP Vitaleswar said that the task force, along with local police, conducted raids in various police station limits in the district.
The arrested smugglers hail from Kadapa, Prakasam and Tamil Nadu. Forest beat officer P Ramaraju had been aiding the smugglers in illegal transportation of the red sanders logs to Tamil Nadu from Veligonda forest. He had worked as a pilot for the vehicles carrying red sanders logs from Prakasam to Nellore. The police seized red sanders logs, vehicles and mobile phones worth `2.5 cr from the smugglers during the raids, the OSD said.
He also said that they had registered cases against the arrested smugglers in five police stations. SIs Venkat Rao, M Bobby, Nagabhushanam, Prabhakar and Sydulu were also present.
Total seizure
OSD Vitaleswar informed that the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force had filed 35 cases against 286 smugglers and seized 620 logs weighing 10 tonnes in raids this year so far. “Nearly, 38 vehicles, 130 mobile phones, five guns, six axes, J50,000 cash and 800 grams of gold have also been seized from the smugglers,” the OSD added.