80 Tamil Nadu red sander woodcutters arrested in Andra Pradesh

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The Andhra Pradesh Police today arrested 80 suspected red sander woodcutters from Tamil Nadu at Anjaneyapuram, 80 km from Tirupati. 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. "Three of those arrested were college students," they said.

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. More details in the matter are awaited. 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.

The PIL requested the court to take an appropriate action against "erring officials" of that state. 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.

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