Andhra Pradesh wants to get back red sander logs hidden by Anaicut panchayat union secretary in Tamil Nadu

Conveying this to DT Next, a top official said, “Babu after bringing the logs, which are cut from trees razed in AP, into Tamil Nadu will hide them in different locations under the watch of some individuals known only to him.”

“Since he has been jailed, those who are keeping the logs smuggled by Babu may attempt to sell them and this may lead to clashes between them and Babu’s men,” he added.

Following this, Vellore police have intensified surveillance anticipating clashes between his supporters and rivals over huge quantity of red wood, worth around Rs 500 crore, hidden by him. Police said Babu, a DMK functionary, faced around 60 red sander smuggling cases in AP and was even arrested on a dozen occasions.

Babu was undeterred by these case as he managed to get bail in all the cases. In August last year, Babu had reportedly taken 350 locals to Srisailam region in AP to cut down the trees. He was closely associated with Sethumadhavan of Tiruvallur, an international red sander smuggler.

Though the AP police claim that they arrested Babu in their jurisdiction, Anaicut residents deny it and say that he was arrested on the outskirts of the town around 8 pm.

Sources said that Vellore police were aware that their AP counterparts had come to the town to nab Babu. Meanwhile, when a DMK bigwig of the region asked the Vellore police to trace Babu through special teams, the cops dispatched a team to the neighbouring state, but only returned with the news of the smuggler’s arrest by Andhra police.