28 people, suspected to be involved in smuggling of precious red sandalwood were arrested in raids conducted in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, police said.
Cash worth Rs 1.8 lakh, besides 58 red sanders logs weighing 1.5 tonne, two cars, as many auto rickshaws, and eight motorcycles were seized from their possession during the operation.
"Acting on a tip-off, police conducted raids at two different places at Railway Koduru and Obulavarai Palli mandals in Kadapa district today and arrested 24 suspected smugglers.
"Police also arrested four suspected inter-state smugglers, two each from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh," said Kadapa Superintendent of Police Ramakrishna.
The accused were identified as Syed Nizam alias Nizam Bhai (29) and Syed Ayub (29), both from Karnataka, and S Yella Reddy (33) and C Siva Reddy (30) who hail from Kadapa and Anantpur districts in Andhra Pradesh, respectively.
The officer said the quartet are suspected to be close associates of international smugglers involved in the smuggling of the precious wood.
He said police faced resistance during the raids in Andhra Pradesh when some suspects hurled stones at the cops and managed to escape.
