Red sandalwood smuggling: 16 arrested at Chennai-Bangalore road
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Chittoor: Sixteen smugglers were arrested at MCR Cross on the Chennai-Bangalore road for smuggling 160kg of red sandalwood. It is worth Rs 40 lakh.
Chittoor police were checking vehicles at around 6.30 am after receiving a tip-off.
Officers saw a car speeding from Chittoor towards Chennai. When the SUV was stopped and checked, five red sandalwood logs were found, said Chittoor District Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) Srilakshmi. She added that seven other logs were recovered from another vehicle that was following the SUV.
A case has been registered against the smugglers at Gudipala station.
In a similar incident in December 2022, seven people were arrested for allegedly smuggling 30 red sandalwood logs worth Rs 46 lakh. They were illegally transporting the contraband from Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu.