Cops to strengthen border check-posts

Kadapa: To curb the red sanders smuggling, the officials of the Police and Forest departments have decided to strengthen the district border check-posts.

Recently, officials of the Forest department have seized Rs 1.5 crore worth red sanders logs from an oil tanker at Bhakarapet check-post in Siddavatam mandal and arrested 20 inter-state smugglers including international smuggler Sahul Bhai.

According to sources, the smugglers have chosen Tirupati-Kadapa road to smuggle precious wood to neighbouring Karnataka state.

Red sanders trees are abundantly available in Nallamala, Lankamalleswara and Seshachala forests spread over the Kadapa district. Earlier, smugglers used to transport red sanders logs through the RTC buses from Nellore to Bengaluru.

The police succeeded in restricting the illegal transportation of logs by arresting 10 RTC staff. The police officials are suspecting that smugglers are shifting the red sanders logs to ports at Mangalore, Mumbai and Kochi as the forest officials of the Tamil Nadu and AP have tightened vigil on the roads leading to Tamil Nadu.

The cops say smugglers have selected Tirupati-Kadapa road to transport the red sanders logs to ports. According to the sources, on an average, 5,000 vehicles pass through the Bhakarapet check-post every day.

Now, the cops and forest officials want to strengthen check-posts in a bid to close alternative routes used by the smugglers in the district. Speaking to The Hans India, SP Attada Babuji said that the Police and Forest departments have tightened the check-posts bordering with neighboring states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.