Andhra Pradesh red sanders case: Kadapa police arrest smuggler Fayaz Sharif

KADAPA: The Kadapa district police reportedly arrested interstate red sanders smuggler Fayaz Sharif alias Basha Bhai on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Thursday night.

It may be mentioned that five red sanders smugglers from Tamil Nadu were burnt alive and another suffered injuries, after the SUV in which they were travelling rammed a tipper and burst into flames at Gotur village near the Kadapa airport around 3 am on November 2.

They were transporting red sanders logs in the vehicle.Kadapa Superintendent of Police KKN Anburajan formed five special teams to investigate the case. Upon learning that Basha Bhai was behind the entire episode, the special teams, led by Addl SP (Operations) Devi Prasad, rushed to Bengaluru to trace him. 

During investigation, police came to know that eight woodcutters from Tamil Nadu entered Bhakarapet forest in Siddavatam mandal 10 days ago as per the directions of Basha Bhai. They were told to transport the logs to Bengaluru. 

Meanwhile, in order to get the precious wood at a cheaper rate, Basha Bhai also offered Rs 10 lakh to local hijacking gang to attack Tamil Nadu smugglers and snatch away the red sanders logs from them. On November 2, while the Tamil Nadu smugglers were transporting the red sanders logs in an SUV, the local hijacking gang chased them.

Sensing that someone was following them, the Tamil Nadu smugglers sped fast and hit the tipper’s diesel tank, resulting in the explosion.Witnessing the fiery road crash, the three-member local hijacking gang fled the spot. 

It is learnt that Basha Bhai amassed crores of rupees by smuggling red sanders logs. He also developed contacts with international red sanders smugglers. He was caught by the police while transporting red sanders logs in 2015 in Kadapa district. 

Several cases were also pending against him at various police stations in Rayalaseema. He also served jail term for smuggling red sanders logs. After coming out of jail, he again started smuggling precious wood.  The police said that they would interrogate Basha Bhai and would produce him before the media in a day or two.