Superintendent of Police Ghattamaneni Srinivas and Vellore SP Senthil Kumari on Tuesday jointly held the first round of inter-State meeting at Katpadi in Tamil Nadu, 20 km from here, exchanging views on steps to tackle red sanders smuggling in Rayalaseema districts.
The Chittoor SP furnished vital information to his Vellore counterpart regarding the unabated influx of woodcutters from the north-western districts of Tamil Nadu, including Vellore.
Mr. Srinivas underscored the need for providing rehabilitation to the woodcutters’ families in the hilly districts of TN in order to stop them from working for the red sanders smugglers by way of felling trees in the Seshachalam hills.
He informed Ms. Senthil Kumari about the publicity campaigns undertaken by the Chittoor police to create awareness against red sanders smuggling, particularly through Kala Jatas (cultural events) in forest fringe villages. He observed that similar mass awareness campaigns by the TN police in the hilly districts could be effective.
The TN police sought details of the number of arrests made, the number of TN woodcutters languishing in jails in Rayalaseema, and their health condition.
