A fight between two gangs over a cache of illegally procured red sanders led the police to the recovery of a truck laden with more than 9,000 kg of logs on the outskirts of the city on Friday night.
The police have arrested two men — Syed Firoz and Syed Yarab — residents of Islampura. They are suspected of being part of the notorious Saddan gang, which is infamous for smuggling red sanders.
According to the police, Saddan and his men got information that a rival gang was smuggling red sanders from Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu via Bengaluru.
The Saddan gang intercepted the truck on the outskirts of the city, attacked the men transporting the cargo and hijacked the truck.
The rival gang was alerted about the attack. They rushed reinforcements to the spot and went in pursuit of the hijackers.
The Saddan gang would have gotten away with the audacious crime but for a twist: when the truck reached Kunbena Agarahara village, the wheels got stuck in a pond filled with slush.
That’s where the rival gang caught up with them. The two gangs began fighting for the logs of wood.
A few villagers noticed the fight and alerted the police control room. Kadugodi police rushed to the spot. Seeing them, members of both gangs fled, but the police managed to nab Firoz and Yarab. The seized the truck.
“Inquiries revealed that smugglers store stolen red sanders in a godown on the outskirts of the city before transporting it to Tamil Nadu,” said a police officer.
Red sanders, available in Andhra Pradesh, sells for anywhere between ₹2,000 and ₹3,000 a kg depending on the quality. There is huge demand in China, Japan, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal even though export of the wood is banned.
The police are on the lookout for the gangsters who escaped from the spot.