Chittoor: Red Sandalwood Smugglers Arrested

The Chittoor district police arrested four smugglers along with two vehicles transporting red sandalwood logs. A total of 182 red sandalwood logs weighing 5.2 tonnes worth about Rs 2.5 crore were seized from the vehicles.  The police disclosed the details on Saturday.  According to the police, the smugglers were caught when they were inspecting vehicles at Penumuru Cross near Chittoor. The smugglers tried to escape but Chittoor police chased them and caught them.

The police said the vehicles were heading from Tirupati to Chittoor and rammed into the police vehicles. Policemen somehow escaped unhurt in the mishap and but managed to catch the smugglers.

The police identified the arrested smugglers as Shivaiah from Kadapa district, Krishnaiah a retired forest officer from Nellore district, A. Kiran from Tirupati and V. Balaji from Vellore of Tamil Nadu.