Kadapa police seize 70 red sanders logs worth ₹81 lakh, arrest eight

The Kadapa police have seized 70 red sanders logs worth ₹81.34 lakh and arrested eight smugglers, most of them from Salem and Tiruvannamalai districts of Tamil Nadu.

Acting on credible information, the police conducted vehicle checks on Galannuboyina road in S.A. Kasinayana mandal late on Tuesday night. At around 6 a.m. on Wednesday, the police spotted three vehicles and attempted to stop them. However, the occupants, armed with axes and stones, allegedly attacked the police personnel and tried to escape. The police surrounded the group and apprehended eight persons, while the others fled.

The police seized 70 logs weighing 1.984 tonnes and three vehicles, including a container, an SUV and a sedan, allegedly used to transport the contraband. The total value of the seized material and vehicles was estimated at ₹1.30 crore.

The arrested persons were identified as Perumal (42), Vellaiyan Srinivasan (43) and Duraisamy Annamalai (46), all from the Chinnakalrayan Hills, and P. Sakthivel (37) of Pethanaickenpalayam, all in Salem district; Anbazhagan (46) and Suresh (22), both from Kaniyambadi in Tiruvannamalai district; Raghu Selvakumar (38) of Jalahalli West in Bengaluru; and vehicle driver Chabolu Venkata Kumar (22) of Kambam in Prakasam district.

Superintendent of Police (Kadapa) Nachiket Vishwanath Shelke, who inspected the seized logs and vehicles, told the media that the smugglers had concealed the logs among 643 cartons of coffee powder. The police also seized five axes and six stones allegedly used in the attack on the personnel.

Mr. Shelke appreciated the efforts of Porumamilla Circle Inspector R.G. Subrahmanyam, Red Sanders Taskforce Inspector Sreeram, Porumamilla police station Sub-Inspector A. Vidyasagar and S.A. Kasinayana police station Sub-Inspector D. Naik.