The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Red sanders seized, two held

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Thursday, Jan 04, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Red sanders seized, two held

Staff Reporter

Surprise check on vehicles on Poonamallee High Road near Maduravoyal

CHENNAI : A consignment of red sanders weighing a little over 12 tonnes was seized and two persons were arrested by Forest department officials of Tiruvallur district near Tiruverkadu on Wednesday.

S. Kalyanasundaram, District Forest Officer, Tiruvallur, said that after receiving a tip-off, they made a surprise check on vehicles passing through the Poonamallee High Road near Maduravoyal early in the day.

Around 4.30 a.m. the officials intercepted a lorry bearing Andhra Pradesh registration plates. A quick check revealed the presence of 385 pieces of the costly wood. Mr. Kalyanasundaram said the smugglers had concealed the consignment by stacking gunny bags containing one-and-half tonnes of coconut on top of the logs. He said the check was conducted by a team of officials, led by S. Ramadoss, Range Officer, Red Hills. The seized wood was valued at Rs.12 lakhs.

The officials were confused at the way in which the wood was transported.

Normally, red sanders, grown in forest areas of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, were only felled and smuggled into the city and they used to be illegally airlifted or concealed in containers and transported through ships to Southeast Asian countries.

But, in the Wednesday's seizure, it was the other way round. The officials received information about the illegal transportation of the wood, which was stacked in a place near Chengalpattu. The lorry with the wood was heading towards Tiruvallur, the officials were told and the person, who informed them about the illegal transportation, also told them about the route the vehicle was passing through.

Preliminary investigations revealed that one Manikandan of Red Hills had utilised the services of two drivers, M. Kanniappan (37) of Red Hills and K.Rafiullah (56) of Sulurpet in Andhra Pradesh, who were arrested by the Forest officials, to hand over the vehicle with the consignment to a person in Tiruvallur. Both were offered Rs 1,500 each as driving charges.

Attempts by the officials to contact Manikandan proved futile, they said. In the last six months nearly 30 tonnes of red sanders were seized, the officials said. A case has been registered by the Tiruvallur district forest officials and further investigations are on.

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