TIRUPATI: A woodcutter from neighbouring Tamil Nadu was killed in firing by Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force at Gollapalli forest area in Yerpedu near Srikalahasti on Saturday. It was stated that Task Force personnel opened fire after they came under attack by the woodcutters.The forest and Task Force personnel were combing the forest area on the Chittoor-Kadapa border following information about the movement of woodcutters and red sanders smugglers on Friday night. When the Task Force personnel entered into the dense forest, they came across a group of 15 woodcutters and cordoned off the area to nab them. The woodcutters rained stones on the Task Force personnel in a bid to escape.
Retaliating the attack, the Task Force personnel opened fire into the air initially. But the woodcutters did not stop hurling stones at the personnel. Then the Task Force personnel opened fire on the woodcutters, killing one of them. The deceased was identified as Kamaraj (55) of Tiruvannamalai of Tamil Nadu. Another woodcutter was arrested. On seeing their associate fell to the firing, the woodcutters took to heels, a forest official said. The Task Force had cordoned off the entire forest stretch and combing the area to nab the remaining woodcutters. About 15 red sanders logs of poor quality were seized from the place.
32 woodcutters die since 2015
Since 2015, nearly 32 woodcutters, majority of them from Tamil Nadu, were killed in Seshachalam forest. In a major encounter in 2015, 20 woodcutters were killed in the Task Force firing at Srivari Mettu area under Chandragiri police station limits. In a recent incident, nearly 10 woodcutters drowned in a stream in the forest area.