The Tirupati wildlife division’s combing party nabbed, late on Friday night, 12 woodcutters at Pulibonupalle near Nerabailu forest close to the famous Talakona waterfalls, 65 km from Tirupati.
What has baffled the officials is that the accused are residents of Madireddipalle village of Yadamarri mandal of Chittoor district, bordering Vellore district of Tamil Nadu.
Forest officials say that some families of the village were hardcore followers of slain forest brigand Veerappan, and had worked for him in decimating the precious white sandal trees in the four Southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala three decades ago.
Speaking to The Hindu , Divisional Forest Officer (Tirupati Wildlife) T.V. Subba Reddy, who led the Talakona operation, observed that all the 12 arrested were aged between 25 and 35 years.
“They are Tamils living in the border village of Chittoor and their families have relatives in the north-western districts of Tamil Nadu. Several families of Madireddipalle had direct patronage of Veerappan and indiscriminately cut the white sandal trees in the forests of Madanapalle, Punganur, Kuppam, and Palamaner. They ventured into the southern States to work for Veerappan.”
During interrogation, it was found that the woodcutters from Madireddipalle were influenced by their relatives in Tamil Nadu to fell red sanders trees. They were also lured by quick money in the smuggling of red sanders.
After the white sandalwood disappeared from the western mandals 30 years ago and the eventual killing of Veerappan, the families of Madireddipalle switched to various vocations.
Cause for concern
“Thorough probe has revealed that the 12 woodcutters are on their second trip into the Seshachalam before being caught. But the fact that they are from a village that served Veerappan for three decades is something worrying us. After 30 years, the young generation of the village has focused on the red sanders wealth in the Seshachalam hills. It is a disturbing development,” the official said. The DFO said that preliminary investigation revealed that these woodcutters were employed by two seasoned smugglers based at Palamaner and Tirupati.
Special teams were deployed to nab them.
Meanwhile, the combing party seized a mini load of provisions such as rice and other ingredients, cooking utensils, and woodcutting equipment from the nabbed persons.
