Police seized around seven tonnes of red sanders worth around Rs 35 lakh near Vaniyambadi toll plaza in the early hours of Saturday and arrested a 27-year-old lorry cleaner.
A mini lorry that was being used to ferry the wood from Chennai to Hosur was also seized. The arrested lorry cleaner was identified as Krishnamoorthy of Balapuri in Krishnagiri district.
According to police, Vaniyambadi Town station Inspector to Sivalingam received a tip-off about smuggling of red sanders along with the vehicle registration number. Based on the information, police personnel conducted a vehicle check along the National Highway 46 near Nekkundi at about 1.30 am.
The driver of the mini lorry, bearing registration number KA 01 D 9381, sped away without stopping on seeing the police team. The police team immediately chased the mini lorry. In fear of being caught, the driver abandoned the vehicle a few metres away from the toll plaza at Vaniyambadi and escaped. However, the police managed to nab the lorry cleaner.
On interrogation, the forest department officials found out that the red sanders chopped in small logs were being transported to Hosur. The smugglers stuck on the vehicle a fake registration number (KA 01 D 9381) on the original number plate bearing the registration number TN 22 AX 7058, said Forest Ranger of Tirupattur, Manesha Manavalan.
The forest department tracked down the owner of the lorry using the original registration number and has summoned him for enquiry.
“The total worth of seized red sanders is Rs 36 lakh. We will take further action based on the outcome of the preliminary enquiry,” said District Forest Officer R Padmavathi.
The police handed over the seized red sanders to the Forest Department Depot at Tirupattur.
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