7 including 2 Chinese held for red sanders smuggling in AP

Kadapa: Two Chinese nationals and as many Tibetan refugees were among seven persons arrested on Tuesday for allegedly smuggling red sandalwood here. Thirty logs of the precious wood, weighing 768 kg and valued at around Rs 15 lakh in international market, were also seized from them.

The Chinese duo, identified as Zhang Xi (34) and Su Lei (27) from Henan, are suspected to be the henchmen of Ling Ping Cheng, an international red sanders smuggler and their fellow countryman, a senior police official said.

The operation was carried out by the police in collaboration with anti-red sanders smuggling squad near Dowlathapuram cross on Kadapa-Kurnool National Highway in Chennur Mandal, Officer on Special duty and Additional SP Rahuldev Sarma said.

Passang Tsering (37) and Sonam Tsering (27), both from Tibet but presently settled in Delhi, besides Manish Pal Luthra (31), Raghunath Dhangar (32) and Mukesh Das Biragi (31) were also arrested. While Luthra is from Delhi, the other two hail from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh.

An SUV, a laptop, 11 mobile phones and cash Rs 10,000, apart from currencies of US, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Myanmar, were seized from the accused. Further investigations are on, Sarma added.

PTI