Forest staff aid smugglers
■ MANY OUTSOURCED EMPLOYEES JOINED SMUGGLERS AFTER DISCOVERING FOREST ROUTES
“Tablas”, “chocolates” and “cigarettes” are regularly smuggled out of the country from the forests of Chittoor, Kurnool, Nellore and Kadapa districts.
These, however, are not musical instruments or candies or smokes. They are code names for the red sanders that are smuggled to the rest of the world.
During investigation into the smuggling network, the Andhra Pradesh police has not only unearthed the modus operandi of the smugglers, their nexus with politicians, and their routes, they have also decoded their language.
Director General of Police Mr J.V. Ramudu told DC that red sanders smugglers use codes for the processed logs. “If the priced wood is a long one it is called “cigarette” by smugglers, a round and short piece is known as ‘tabla’ and a square shaped log is a ‘chocolate’. The demand varies for these in the international market.”
He revealed that since there is no time to process the wood at the ports from where the wood is smuggled out, smugglers process and number the logs in the forests itself where they are cut. This is in view of the queries raised after the Seshachalam encounter killing of 20 illegal woodcutters wherein processed logs with paint marks and numbers were found at the encounter scene.
Apart from the Red Sanders Anti Smuggling Task Force led by the Forest department, the AP police too has started to crack down on the racket. In special operations conducted across the country, 31 interstate smugglers have been arrested. Around 51 smugglers have also been detained under the PD Act.
Mr Ramudu said, “Smugglers often change their cell phones. In a red sanders dump at Nellore district, around 40 cell phones were found recently. This shows how they use the phones and change them often to avoid being tracked.” Police also strongly suspect the role of forest department officials, particularly the outsourced employees, for aiding smugglers as the logs are processed in the forest itself.
A senior police official said, “Outsourced employees of the forest department are aiding the smugglers. They find out routes in the forest after working for six months or a year with the forest department. Later they quit and join the smuggling gangs. We have arrested several of these outsourced employees."
Police have also arrested at least 40 RTC drivers for helping smugglers transport the red sanders. “Each RTC driver is paid 4,000 to 5,000 for each person carrying the prized wood.”
According to the police, smuggling over the land route takes place through the Northeast states bordering Myanmar and on the sea route to Singapore and Dubai. Smugglers even opt for the air route at times.
Police also strongly suspect the role of forest department officials, particularly the outsourced employees, for aiding smugglers.