Hyderabad police arrest 4 for smuggling red sanders logs worth Rs 1 crore

The Hyderabad city police on Thursday busted an inter-state red sanders smuggling racket with the arrest of four people. The Commissioner’s Task Force, South Zone Team, seized 2,500 kg (2.5 tonnes) of red sander logs, estimated to be worth Rs 1 crore in the market. The main accused have been identified as N Radha Krishna and K Chandra, both from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, who transported the precious wood from Lankamalla reserved forest in Kadapa. N Chennaiah, a mediator, and Ram Kumar, a watchman, were also arrested in relation to the crime. The police said that one Shiva, alias Chandra, who was the kingpin of the racket, is absconding. The police said that Radha Krishna had completed his education in Anantapur, following which he had ventured into various businesses like real estate and mining, without any success. Due to a financial crisis, he decided to smuggle red sanders, taking inspiration from notorious smuggler Gangi Reddy, who was arrested in 2015. "To execute his plan, he met one Shiva from Kadapa. Shiva arranged 2.5 tonnes of red sanders wood from Lankamalla reserved forest for a price of Rs 400 per kg. Immediately, Radha Krishna collected the wood from the forest with the help of his associate, Chandra," the police said in a press note. They later shifted the wood by hiding it under the cover of vegetables, and stored it in a room at Pedda Shapur village at the outskirts of Hyderabad, the police said. In the early hours of Thursday, based on a tip off, the police arrested the accused as they were transporting the logs. Investigating officials seized a Honda City car and five cell phones and said that the gang functions in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.  Pterocarpus santalinus, more commonly known as red sanders, grows mainly in the Palakonda and Seshachalam hills in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district, with some trees also found in isolated areas in the districts of Kurnool, Prakasam, Anantapur and Nellore. The rare wood is precious and has a huge demand in East Asia and countries like China and Myanmar, where it is used for woodcraft, and also in making traditional medicines. The Andhra government seizes several tonnes of logs each year during combing operations, which are undertaken by Special Forces. It later auctions the seized wood after getting permission from the union government. Read: The great forest robbery: How Andhra’s rare red sanders are smuggled around the world