Seshachalam forests hold Rs.1,00,000 crore worth Red sanders wood

According to the recent studies by STF and other experts, the inter state smugglers had so far siphoned off Rs. 12,000 crore worth red sanders wood in last one decade with active patronisation of the Congress government in AP and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and film industry in both the states.

There are wood choppers, wood cutters, the loaders, transporters and the exporters and also the Maoists. All these persons are controlled by a kingpin. While these five layers are extremely crucial to red sandalwood smuggling, there are behind the scene operators too who play a vital role. They are actors (both Telugu and Tamil film Industry), politicians, police and the forest officials. Investigating officers say that each and every level is crucial. While the first five layers ensure that the act is carried out and it reaches its destination those in the middle facilitate these layers behind the scenes.

It has been seen that film producers and actors have played a role in this racket. They use the money to finance their movies and in the case of actors they often are the ones who hold the ill-gotten wealth. The politicians who use the money for their party are also a crucial link since they are the ones who direct the police and the forest department officials to look the other way. Actors, producers actively involved in sandalwood smuggling.

The latest level are the Maoists : Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has been screaming from roof tops that there is a direct naxal link to the entire incident. The naxals are the ones who had taken a fee from the kingpin of the red sandalwood smugglers to assassinate Naidu in 2003.

Gangi Reddy, the kingpin of the racket who has close contacts with Maoist parties opposed to Naidu had in fact been arrested in Andhra Pradesh a few years back. He had, however, jumped bail and moved to Dubai for a couple of years. He moved to Mauritius from Dubai and got exposed after throwing a island party for all smugglers where in the AP police had sent a mole.

He was arrested and the AP government wants him extradited now. They act like a security cover in the forests for movement of the red sanders against the police and the forest departments watch and patrolling. Why do actors bite the bait? Brokers are normally actors and producers of the film industries. They get a huge sum for holding the money and at times they are also asked to keep stolen wood in their homes until it is ready for transportation. Take the extremely famous case of Mohanambal, the famous dancer from Tamil Nadu.A raid on her home had led to the seizure of crores of rupees and several kilograms of gold.

The recent case of Neethu Agarwal, the small time actor from Andhra Pradesh is no different.Investigators say that she and her producer friend could have earned anything between Rs 10 to Rs 20 crore in the past year for abetting red sandalwood smuggling. The police are digging for more information on her