The Chittoor police on Friday morning seized 61 red sanders logs worth about ₹75 lakh from two cars and and arrested two youth— Karthik and Raghu, both hailing from Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu, on the Rangapuram-Chennai road near Palasamudram mandal headquarters.
Deputy SP (Law and Order) N. Sudhakar Reddy and Circle-Insepctor (Chittoor East) Balaiah, who led the operation, said that acting on a tip-off, the police team intercepted the cars.
The accused allegedly had procured the red sanders logs near Chandragiri at the foothills of Seshachalam Range.
They were transporting the logs to Chennai with logs. According to the police, the accused have confessed that they they have been trading in the precious logs since years and that they supply the logs to the red sanders syndicate operating out of Bengaluru and Chennai. The accused have been remanded.
Sandalwood chips seized, two held
Meanwhile, the GD Nellore police seized 10 kg sandal wood material worth ₹50,000 from two people riding a motorbike at the Tana checkpost on the outskirts of Chittoor on Friday. The accused, identified as Dorai (65) and Babu (30) of GD Nellore mandal, carrying the sandal wood chips in two small bags, were proceeding towards Chittoor. They took a U-turn on seeing the police at the checkpost. The police took them into custody and seized the sandalwood chips and the bike. A case has been registered and the accused have been sent to remand.