The arrest of Delhi-based Vikram S. Mehandi by the Chittoor police in connection with the smuggling of precious red sanders out of the country through the North-Eastern States appears to be only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
While information available with the police confirms the existence of sea routes from Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and even Kandla port to transport the logs out of Indian shores through, they are learnt to be no longer in operation. Instead, the operators rely more on the highway route to reach China via Manipur and Myanmar. What is baffling to note is the presence of godowns and transit points in places as far as Delhi and Manipur, which bears testimony to the fact that the red sanders smugglers had indeed spread their tentacles beyond the traditionally-known areas.
After the trees are felled in Seshachalam hill ranges and once a lorry-load of logs gets on to the highway, the value of the booty is anything between Rs. 20 to 45 lakh. When it reaches the destination in the N-E States, it is priced at Rs. 1 to 2 crore, depending on the quality of the chopped wood. This gives enough leeway for the smugglers to ‘manage’ the police, customs and forest check posts on the highways, it is learnt.
On the flip side, the lack of knowledge on the value of the contraband beyond Andhra Pradesh is proving an advantage to the smugglers. “As they say ignorance is bliss, the wood transported out of the state is taken for timber by the guards manning the check posts en route. The drivers either pay the prescribed fee or grease their palm to get through without much ado”, sources in the forest department say.
Buoyed by the arrest of Mehandi, Superintendent of Police (Chittoor) P.H.D. Ramakrishna is keen on launching more offensives to take on the kingpins to curtail the demand, instead of routinely arresting the woodcutters.
