KADAPA: The police conducted raids in the forest area of Rayachoti rural mandal and arrested four notorious red sanders smugglers and 12 woodcutters. They also seized 50 red sanders logs worth `1.5 crore and two vehicles.

Addressing a press conference in Rayachoti on Monday, ASP (Operations) B Lakshminarayana said acting on a tip-off, the police conducted raids and arrested red sanders smugglers Ayyappa, Tamilarasan, Eeshwaraiah and Suresh.

The police also arrested 12 woodcutters in the raids and seized 30 red sanders logs and one vehicle from them.

The ASP said that the police conducted vehicle check at Sambepalli a few days ago and seized 20 red sanders logs while they were being transported.

The police arrested the four red sanders smugglers on Monday. The ASP appreciated Pulivendula DSP Nagaraju, Rayachoti Rural CI Narasimha Raju, SIs and constable for nabbing the accused.