TIRUPATI: The police on Tuesday evening arrested Chennai-based international smuggler K Venkatesh, who has close business links with notorious red sanders smuggler K Gangi Reddy and Sahul Hameed.
The Tirupati Urban police officials took him into custody at the Regional Passport Office, Mount Road, Chennai and brought him to Renigunta police station on Wednesday morning.
Tirupati Urban SP Gopinath Jatti told newsmen here Wednesday that acting on a tip-off, a special team led by a DSP rank officer was appointed to nab the smuggler, whose location was traced in Chennai. The team immediately launched a search in Chennai where the smuggler was arrested in the RPO.
The SP said that he has close contacts with Gangi Reddy and Sahul Hameed, acting as key person in exporting logs from Seshachalam forest to foreign countries. Few months ago, Venkatesh visited Mamanduru forest, with 10 woodcutters for felling red sanders trees as part of deal set by Sahul Hameed, the SP informed.