The Andhra Pradesh Police on Friday arrested 80 suspected red sander woodcutters from Tamil Nadu at Anjaneyapuram, 15 km from here. The arrests were made at around 2 am when the accused were on their way to forests here in a lorry from Arcot in Tamil Nadu, Red Sanders anti-smuggling task forces sources told PTI. According to the sources, a team that was keeping vigil on the movements of the woodcutters alerted about the lorry en route to Seshachalam hill ranges in Andhra Pradesh. On February 28, a PIL was filed in the Madras high court alleging that over 500 suspected woodcutters from Tamil Nadu had been “illegally detained” by the Andhra Pradesh police. Advocate P Pugalenthi submitted that these persons had been “illegally detained” by police of that state without even the knowledge of the Tamil Nadu government.

Source: Hindustan Times March 02, 2018 06:45 UTC