The forest officers of Nellore district have seized a lorry carrying 194 red sanders logs at Nellore Palem Check Post in Atmakur forest range.
Nellore District Forest Officer Shanmukha Kumar held a press meet on Thursday morning to give details.
He said, "As part of daily checking of vehicles, our staff was checking vehicles at Nellore Palem checkpost on Wednesday morning at 5 AM. A Haryana registration number lorry did not stop and went away though we asked it to stop. The driver left the lorry at some distance and ran away. Our staff checked the vehicle and found 194 red sanders logs."
"The lorry has Haryana registration number. According to the AP Forest Act, if any vehicle is caught smuggling red sanders, the owner of the vehicle will also be booked as accused. In this case, the owner is Mukesh Kumar from Hissar district, Haryana. This is the biggest cache ever in the district. The 194 logs weigh more than 6 tonnes. This is the largest cache I have ever seen in the district. The logs' book value is Rs 31 lakh. Its worth might be about Rs 3 crore in the international market."
Atmakur Range Officer Hari and check post staffer Dorasanamma, Srinivasulu also participated in this press meet.
( With inputs from ANI )
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