AP Ordinance on Red sanders smugglers

In a master drive against the red sanders smugglers, the AP government has decided to issue an ordinance to increase the imprisonment of smugglers from 5 years to 10 years.

This one of the major decisions taken by the AP cabinet, which met on Wednesday morning in its campaign to contain the smuggling of red sanders wood in the Seshachalam forests. The government has already sought the centre to lift the ban on felling of red sanders issued in 2000 after it was tagged as an endangered species.

The AP government came in the wake of the national furore over recent encounters of red sanders smugglers in Seshachalam forests and the pending NHRC open trials on the killing of 20 smugglers allegedly coolies.