Andhra Pradesh Police have arrested a Chinese national identified as Yang Ping for his alleged involvement in Red Sanders smuggling. He was arrested on late Thursday night in Hyderabad by a special police team from Chittoor. He was immediately taken to Chitoor and wad produced before a district court. The arrest established Chinese link in red sanders smuggling from Andhra Pradesh, the only state which produces the precious wood.
As many as 55 Chinese smugglers were arrested in India in relation to Red Sanders smuggling since 2013. It is estimated that more than 50000 Crore worth Red Sanders were smuggled out of the state in the last 10 years. There are even allegations on brother of former Chief Minister, Kiran Kumar Reddy regarding the involvement in the smuggling of this precious wood.
Under Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh government has taken the Red Sandal Smuggling very seriously. A special task force was formed to deal with the smugglers and several 100s of Crores of smuggled wood is recovered so far by them. There is a huge outrage over the encounter of 20 smugglers in Seshachalam forest, but Andhra Pradesh government is still keen on leaving no loop hole in protecting the precious wood.
