Red Sanders wood worth about Rs 4 cr. seized in Tirupati

Red sanders wood logs worth about Rs 4 crore were today seized in different areas in the forests of Seshahalam hills near here, officials said.

As many as 215 logs of the precious wood, weighing around 20 tons, were seized in the early hours at two different places close to Karambadi road by two separate forest combing squads-Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force team and a team of Forest officials, they told PTI.

After noticing the movement of police and forest officials, over 200 woodcutters, suspected to be from Tamil Nadu and allegedly engaged in the smuggling of the wood, escaped under the cover of darkness, leaving behind the logs, the officials said.

A total of 145 logs were seized by the police task force while 70 logs were recovered by the department of forest officials, they said.

A man, suspected to be from Salem in Tamil Naidu, was arrested and a lorry seized from a location close to the forests, they added.