KADAPA: The police arrested five persons and seized 45 red sanders logs worth Rs 30 lakh at Kailasagiri area in Chennuru Mandal on Monday. Addressing a press conference, DSP U Suryanarayana Raju said acting on a tip-off, the police teams led by CI P Satyababu, SI Vidyasagar and SI P Varalakshmi conducted combing operations in the forest area.
The police team spotted seven red sanders operatives, including two woodcutters. On sighting police, the red sanders operatives pelted stones and threw axes at the former. However, the police managed to arrest Sk Simpatilal Basha, Sk Simpati Jakhir, Sk Simpati Chand Basha, Chinna Swamy and Thirdhan Palani Swamy.
As per the information provided by the arrested red sanders smugglers, police seized 45 red sanders logs weighing 1.5 tonnes, a Toyota car, Mahindra Xylo and Mahindra SUV cars, six mobile phones and two axes.The DSP said that 46 cases were pending against Sk Simpatilal Basha (30).
He recently came out of prison and again started indulging in red sanders smuggling in the district. As many as 58 cases were pending against Sk Simpati Jakir (25) in the district. The police also invoked PD Act against him. Jakir served 17-month jail term. The DSP appreciated the police team for arresting the smugglers.