Mining Scam in the Making, This Time by Vellore Quarries
By J Shanmugha Sundaram
Published: 09th November 2015
VELLORE: Villagers in the vicinity of the three authorised stone quarries operating in Perumugai for over 20 years now, allege that tonnes of gravel and red sand are being dug up and smuggled out from the hills here under the guise of transporting granite stones.
This plundering of natural resources has been going on for several years, they claimed and demanded a thorough probe by a high-level committee. As per rules, permission has to be obtained from the Mines Department to take gravel from the site of a stone quarry and if permitted, quarry operators may have to make a payment for the same.
“Gravel and red sand are in high demand for road-laying works and construction purposes. Quarry contractors illegally smuggle the gravel on the pretext of transporting granite from the sites,” said a retired government staffer in the village, adding that more than 50 loads of gravel and red sand were being smuggled out of the village everyday.
According to him, one unit of gravel mixed with red sand is being sold for Rs 1,200. Six-wheeler trucks carry six units of this mineral in a single trip, while 12-wheeler lorries carry up to 10 units. “Gravel dug up from the hills is being used for road work on NH 46. The person who took the tenders to run the quarries paid around Rs 1.50 crore to the panchayat in the last 15 years. This caused a loss of not less than Rs 1,000 crore during the period, to the State exchequer. A detailed probe will definitely unearth a mining scam similar to the one in Madurai,” said a source in the village panchayat.
Villagers alleged panchayat representatives and politicians were directly involved in the illegal activity. Though officials are aware of the illegal quarrying of the natural resource, they continue to remain mute spectators. Quarry contractors, backed by politicians, have even issued death threats to anyone raising the issue.
Despite this, the villagers claimed they have submitted at least 40 petitions to the District Collector, the Chief Minister’s Cell and other officials, seeking to restrain the smuggling.
However, no action has been taken so far.
Moreover, the narrow panchayat road being used as a thoroughfare to reach NH 46 by heavy vehicles transporting minerals from the stone quarries, is also being used by students of the Government Higher Secondary School which is accessible through the road. “It is risky for our students to walk along the road as heavy vehicles ply throughout the day. These vehicles are driven in a rash manner. We have taken up this issue with the senior officials of the Education Department, but no action has been taken to restrict the movement of the heavy vehicles,” said a teacher of the school.
District Collector R Nanthagopal gave an assurance that he would direct authorities to look into the issue.
Mungileri Anxious as Kasthuri Set to Reach Chennai Today
By J Shanmugha Sundaram
Published: 07th November 2015
VELLORE: After undergoing a horrifying experience at Saudi Arabia for over four months, 55-year-old Kasthuri Munirathinam, a native of Mungileri village in Vellore district, is returning home on Saturday. She is returning with a permanent disability, allegedly due to an inhuman act of her employer in Riyadh.
Kasthuri Munirathinam, the Indian maid whose hand was chopped off by her Saudi Arabian employer last month arrives at Chennai airport on Saturday | Express Photo- Martin Louis
Kasthuri’s employer allegedly chopped off her right arm when she tried to flee from the house in Riyadh in the first week of October. She was admitted to the Kingdom Hospital there.
Officials at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh and Secretariat (Tamil Nadu) informed the family members of Kasthuri that she would reach Chennai by 10.30 am on Saturday. From there, she would be shifted to the Government Hospital in Chennai for a medical checkup.
“I received a call from the Indian Embassy (Riyadh) that my mother will reach Chennai on Saturday morning. Later, Tamil Nadu government officials said that they had arranged a vehicle to shift my mother to the government hospital,” said Kasthuri’s son M Mohan.
Against the wishes of her family members, Kasthuri had gone to Saudi Arabia on July 28 to work as a house maid for a monthly salary of about Rs 23,000 to bail her family out of debt.
anxious relatives of Kasthuri
She took the decision to do so after selling her house for Rs 12 lakh to settle a the debt partially. “We constructed the house in 2012. Unable to repay the loan, we sold it. Now, we are living in it as a tenant for monthly rent of Rs 1,500. This is our condition now,” said Mohan, adding that they were not in a position to give good medical care to their mother .
Kasthuri’s neighbour and friend Rani (45) said that she and many of their neighbours had gone to the main road, which was nearly 2 km from the village, to see their neighbour off to Dubai. They had never imagined then that such a cruel thing could happen to her.
Though Kasthuri’s long-time neighbour Krishnaveni and several others were eagerly waiting for her return. Her husband Munirathinam and son Mohan had tried to dissuade her from returning to India. They tried to persuade her to stay in Saudi until she felt better and was able to walk on her own.
“My mother has been scarred for life. She is desperate to return,” said Kasthuri’s oldest daughter Vanaja, fighting tears. She added that her mother has been supporting her family with her little earning as a farm hand. She appealed to the government to extend medical care to her mother for the rest of her life.
VELLORE: They are all young, just entering the teens, yet to graduate from shorts to trousers and should ideally be inside classrooms. But in the villages bordering neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, these boys are busy not with science projects but something lethal - brewing illicit liquor.
A boy distils arrack and (R) two others stack firewood atop the Kottacheri hills in Vellore district | express
Even for Vellore, a district infamous for bootlegging and illicit liquor, this is a shocking instance wherein boys as young as 13 from villages including Kallipettai, Ranganpettai and other neighbouring hamlets have been turned into a ‘workforce’ by notorious moonshiners.There are several out-of-school kids who seem to have fallen prey to the bootleggers’ lure of quick and relatively easy money, as is evident from a series of photographs available with Express.
They show the boys working shoulder-to-shoulder with grown-up men in distilling arrack, which has been banned in the State for several years.
For several families in the village, brewing arrack has been a family business for decades and it is run like a cottage industry atop the Kottacheri hills. The youngsters are roped in to carry firewood from the plains to the hill and to ferry illicit liquor. This is a road on which there is no turning back once they fall prey to the anti-social elements.
The bootleggers who employ the children pay about `750 to `1,000 for assisting them in the illegal activity, said a villager in a petition to Collector R Nanthagopal. “Many boys, including those studying in Class VIII, are employed for undertaking menial work such as carrying firewood after school hours and during holidays,” said a local source, adding that even women and young girls were actively involved in the activity.
Admitting this, a police officer said, “There are cases where father, mother, sons and daughters work jointly in this business. They justify it claiming they have no other option for making ends meet.” Activists charged that these illegal activities are being undertaken without any hindrance. “It is like a mini-cluster industry atop the hills. Over 75 per cent of the families in Kallipettai village and neighbouring villages are involved in this organised crime,” alleged T Basheeruddin, an activist from Pernambut.
A section of the villagers, who have been resisting the anti-social elements, alleged that they had appealed to the district administration and police department on numerous occasions to act sternly against the racketeers, but in vain.
IINRG Scientists Discover Lac Insect In Vellore Region
By J Shanmugha Sundaram
Published:02nd November 2015
VELLORE/TIRUVANNAMALAI: Two scientists, attached to the Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums (IINRG), Ranchi, have discovered the presence of Lac insects in the forests of Jawadhu Hills, Yelagiri Hills and the plain areas in Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts giving rise to the possibility of economically viable Lac cultivation in the region.
Lac is a natural resin secreted by the tiny insect kerria lacca (Kerr) for its own protection. The resin has been commercially used in various industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, varnishes, sealing wax, lubricants and insulating materials. It was also traditionally used to make bangles in North India.
“Each kilogram of resin extracted from the insect fetches Rs 150 to Rs 200. It is the main livelihood for tribes in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh,” said plant physiologist, IINRG, Vaibhav D Lohot.
A Mohanasundaram (left) and Vaibhav D Lahot examining Lac insects (inset) embedded on trees near Vellore Fort on Sunday
“We have discovered the species for the first time in this region. It will give a scope for Lac cultivation in TN and also provide employment opportunities and a source of income to many,” said entomologist, IINRG, A Mohanasundaram.
Mohanasundaram and Lohot discovered the insect during their four-day survey of this region which they began on October 28. They surveyed Alangayam, Amirthi and Jamunamaruthur in Jawadhu Hills, various parts of Yelagiri Hills and the plain areas such as Gandhi Nagar in Katpadi, CMC College premises in Bagayam and Vellore Fort.
The insects were found on rain trees (Albizia saman) otherwise known as Thoongu-moonchi tree in Tamil and Peepal Tree (ficus religiosa) also known as Arasa Maram and and number of other Lac host plants - Kusum tree (Schleichera Oleosa), Palah or Flame of the forest tree (Butea monosperma), albizia lebbeck, Yellow Flame or Perumkondrai (peltophorum ferrugineum) and Kamala tree (mellalotus philippensis) in Vellore and Tiruvannammalai districts. Lac insects, if cultivated, multiply eight times.
With the discovery of the insect in the rain and peepal trees in the Vellore region, the scope of Lac cultivation is promising. “There are two types of lac - Kusmi and Rangeeni. We have collected the samples for morphology and molecular identification tests. After the tests are done successfully, we will also collect the brood (seeds) of the insect for further evaluation,” said Mohanasundaram. The institute will launch a pilot project, if the outcome of the evaluation is promising.
The team has collected samples of the species from Madurai, Theni and Salem districts. It is under various stages of scientific tests. “Sample collected from Madurai was named as Kerria Madurai Lac. The male/female ratio in the seeds is being determined,” he said.
VELLORE: Having sunk almost a crore of rupees into a lighting system to light up Vellore Fort powered by wind and solar energy, poor maintenance and official apathy has led to the lighting system deteriorating to the point that the Fort has been enveloped in darkness in the night time for almost one year.
The Rs 90 lakh system lighting up the Fort during the night hours by tapping wind and solar energy was a measure instituted to beautify the historic Fort and promote tourism. A 20 KW power generation unit was established by erecting solar panels and wind turbines imported from Germany.
Eerie silhouettes of deteriorating mannequins, dressed like the sepoys of the Vijayanagara era, grimly remind the public of the failure of officials to sustain the project. The project was first conceived of in the first week of August 2012 under the administration of the then collector Ajay Yadav. It was successfully completed in September 2013 under the Power Grid Corporation of India and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) with the Self Sufficiency Scheme’s guidelines.
Twenty mannequins, resembling Vijayanagar-era sepoys with a spear, standing on the bastions along the lower rampart wall on the north-eastern side of the Fort was an added measure enhancing the attractiveness of the Fort, especially with the idols of the sepoys being illuminated using 30-Watt multi-colour LED lights and 3 watt spotlights. The entire lighting was monitored and maintained using software specifically for such systems.
“A total of 40 LED lights and 300 spot lights were erected to create a visual treat during the night hours. The lights were directed toward the Fort and bastions where the mannequins are installed,” said an official.
The administration’s efforts to light up Vellore Fort aesthetically has fallen by the wayside and is a dark blur in the night time / The fort glowing under lighting project (file pic)
Efforts were made for the Fort to resemble the Vijayanagara period giving the impression that the mannequin soldiers were guarding the Fort with their images reflected in the waters of the moat.
Since the BORG Energy company, which executed the project, handed over the facility to the DRDA after maintaining it for a year as per agreement, maintenance and the aesthetic nature of the project has been lost on the administration. The mannequins with torn clothes remain a testimony to official apathy. Legs and hands are missing from most of the mannequins and several LED lights worth several lakh rupees are missing.
Project Officer, DRDA, Manohar Singh, said, “We will take effective measures to put the project back on track to breathe life into the historical Fort.”
Vellore Fort was built by Chinna Bommi Nayak and Thimma Reddy Nayak, chieftains under Sadasiva Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1566. It is believed to be the country’s only stone fort and is one of the finest military architectures with lower and upper rampart walls. Bijapur Sultans, Marathas, Carnatic Nawabs and the British have also held the fort at different times till independence.
VELLORE: In an attempt to make quick bucks, around 20 youngsters of Perumugai and Vasur villages in the district have been resorting to smuggling sand in two-wheelers, for the last three years, it is alleged. This is in addition to sand being stolen using lorries and bullock carts.
Councillors, the panchayat president and local politicians and their relatives were actively involved in this lucrative business. With their support, smugglers carry out smuggling and even threaten those villagers who oppose their illegal activities, claimed the villagers.
They allege that police and revenue officials too are hand-in-glove with the smugglers.
Lorries, tractors, bullock-carts are passe, sand-smugglers now use two-wheelers for their activities in Vellore district | Express
“None are taking steps against the illegal activity as police and revenue officials are hand-in-glove with the smugglers. Police officials receive bribes from the sand smugglers on a daily -basis,” claimed a villager. He added that they are usually active between 11 pm and 10 am the next day. At times, when the demand is high, sand is smuggled even during the day.
In a single trip, each of them transport five plastic gunny bags of sand (each weighs around 60 kg). They smuggle around three to five tonnes a day. Around 36 bags of sand amount to one unit (100 cubic feet) that is sold for `2,500.
The sand being smuggled to Chennai and Karnataka form their illegal stock yard in the vicinity.
“Each of them will do 15-20 shuttle trips and earn `5,000 to `6000 within a couple of hours,” said another villager and added that the earlier Superintendent of Police P Vijayakumar raided a stone crushing unit near Ponniyamman Koil in Perumugai village and seized nearly 1000 bags of sand stacked on the unit that belonged to a local politician.
Despite the villagers strong objection, the two-wheeler sand smugglers whave been plundering the riverbed along Perumugai and Pillaiyarkuppam villages for the last few years.
“They are also putting the lives of the villagers in grave danger. A couple of months ago, ex-service man Sundaraj was killed after he was knocked down by a speeding sand smuggler two-wheeler. They have also knocked down several persons, including women, while ferrying the sand,” said the villagers.
Tahsildar of Vellore K Vijayan, a native of Perumugai admitted that sand is being smuggled indiscriminately in two-wheelers in Perumugai area.
He said, “We are taking steps with the available manpower to control sand smuggling. We are also planning to take steps against two-wheeler sand smugglers.”
Superintendent of Police P K Senthil Kumari said that action would be taken against sand smugglers.
Four Years On, Kin Await 'Body' of Vellore Man From Saudi
By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS
Published: 05th October 2015 05:00 AM
Last Updated:05th October 2015
VELLORE: Fifty-five-year-old Kousalya last saw her husband, K Subramanian, who was working in Saudi Arabia, more than four years ago and was informed of his death in a road accident on July 3, 2011. However she and her 34-year-old son refuse to believe he is dead and have not only refused government compensation of approximately `2.39 lakh but also allege a lack of transparency in the whole matter. They continue to expect him to show up at their front door, despite the central government and the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, notifying them of his death.
Kausalya, Venkatesan looking at a family album with pic of Subramanian
Despite the communication from official sources both in Saudi Arabia and India of Subramanian’s death, there seem to be valid reasons for his family to suspect the legitimacy of the claim that Subramanian did indeed die in a traffic accident.
The background to the story is as follows: Subramanian was working as a joint-wheel operator for 13 years in an amusement park of Al-Hokair Group and Sons in Saudi Arabia. He visited his family last in February 2011, according to Subramanian’s son, Venkatesan, a resident of Ambur Town.
Subramanian’s relative, Kumar, who was then the chief accountant of the company in which Subramanian was working for, informed Kousalya that her husband had met with a road accident and died on July 3,2011.
“My brother-in-law (Kumar) was at his native place in Polur when the accident in which my husband was reportedly killed, occurred. He informed me about (my husband’s) death over the phone. But till date, there is no evidence to prove my husband was killed in the accident,” said Kousalya.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh has reported that “Kandasamy Subramanian, an Indian National, died in Saudi Arabia” and sent a cheque of `2,39,722 to the Indian government pertaining to legal dues in respect of the deceased. An official told Express that it should have been handed over to the deceased’s legal heirs. The family however, has refused to collect the money.
“My uncle (Kumar) told me and my mother to arrange for `2 lakh to bring his body back to our place. Though we were ready with the money, officials in the Collectorate told us not to give the money to anyone to bring the mortal remains of my father,” Subramanian’s son, Venkatesan said.
Kousalya and her son therefore refuse to believe either the Indian Embassy or Kumar’s account of Subramanian’s death. Kousalya has also given a written statement to the district administration that she did not want the legal dues (compensation) from the government and continues to suspect something is wrong.
“There is a lot of ambiguity over my father’s alleged death. Nobody has produced any evidence to prove the death. There was not even a clear communication of the nature of the accident in which my father allegedly died,” Venkatesan added.
With hopes of seeing Subramanian ever again dimming with each passing day, the family continues to hope that he is alive and will come back to them. With no photographic evidence of Subramanian’s death, no clear reasons given as to why the mortal remains were not sent back to India and no specific details as to how Subramanian died the family’s hopes are not entirely unreasonable
Saudi Employer Chops Off Vellore Domestic Help's Arm
By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS
Published: 06th October 2015 04:17 AM
Last Updated: 06th October 2015
VELLORE: Saudi Arabia continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons with yet another case of an Indian worker being harshly mistreated. Kasthuri (56), of Mungileri village near Katpadi, had gone to the Kingdom two months ago to take up work as a domestic housemaid only to have her right arm allegedly chopped off by her employer for lodging a complaint against them for ill-treating her. She is currently battling for her life in Kingdom Hospital in Riyadh.
The Saudi government machinery, according to rules prevailing there, periodically conducts inquiries and ascertains the welfare of housemaids of foreign origin. When the government agency inquired of Kasthuri, she complained that she was being ill-treated.
“My mother had told the officials a week ago that her employer was not providing her food properly and also ill- treating her. Following this, the government agency warned the employers not to ill-treat Kasthuri. The employers would have (chopped off her arm) after she complained about them,” claimed Mohan, son of Kasthuri. Mohan adds that she was admitted to the hospital by the police and with the help of an Indian, working there as a driver.
The victim’s family has pleaded with the government to bring her back and are demanding justice. Kasthuri’s husband, Munirathinam, son Mohan, daughters Vanaja, Selvi and Lakshmi and their relatives approached the district administration on Monday, seeking help to bring her back to India.
An agricultural labourer by trade, Kasthuri was approached by an agent from Tiruvannamalai with a promise of a monthly salary of `23,000 for working as a housemaid in Riyadh a few months ago.
Though her 37 year-old son Mohan, a mason, dissuaded her from going abroad as a housemaid, she took it as an opportunity to bail out the family from their mounting debt and left for Saudi Arabia on July 28 this year.
She started facing harassment from the very beginning and she alleged she was saddled with work without proper food, said Mohan fighting tears, after having talked to his mother in Kingdom hospital on Saturday.
Indian Embassy Demands Saudi Government Take Stern Action on Kasthuri Case
By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS
Published: 09th October 2015 04:37 AM
Last Updated:09th October 2015
VELLORE: Senior diplomats of the Indian embassy have approached the Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia to take severe action against the former employer of 56 year-old Kasthuri, a native of Vellore, whose arm was chopped off by the employer a week ago. Officials of the Indian Embassy have demanded the police department file an ‘attempt to murder’ case.
“We have taken the issue to the Government of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday through diplomatic channels requesting them to record Kasthuri’s statement, without any delay. We have also requested the government here for an independent probe into the incident,” First Secretary (Community Welfare) of the Indian Embassy Anil Nautiyal, told Express over the phone.
A senior diplomat of the Indian Embassy also met with the top officials of the Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia and conveyed the Indian Government’s displeasure over the incident, said Nautiyal.
He along with two other officials from the embassy in Riyadh met the Chief Police Officer and Investigation officer overseeing the Kasthuri case on Wednesday.
“We also registered our protest through the proper channels and requested the Chief Police Officer to register a case against Kasthuri’s employer on charges of attempt to murder,” Nautiyal said.
Kasthuri, a native of Mungileri village near Katpadi in Vellore, left for Saudi on July 28 to work as a housemaid for a monthly salary of `23,000.
Saudi police have already registered a case against the employer of Kasthuri.
Nautiyal added officials from the Indian Embassy also made inquiries with the doctors who operated on Kasthuri in the Kingdom Hospital, on the condition of the woman. The doctors informed officials in the Indian Embassy that the surgery was successful and Kasthuri was out of danger and will soon be able to travel.
Mohan, Kasthuri’s son, received a call from Kasthuri in Kingdom Hospital telling him that her employer and three others cut off her right hand on September 30 after Kasthuri reportedly told officials in Saudi Arabia that she was being ill-treated. “Officials in the Indian Embassy assured me that they would take care of the medical expenses of my mother and suitable action against the person who unleashed the inhuman act,” said Mohan.
It may be recalled that Kasthuri had lodged a complaint with the Saudi government for being ill-treated and not being fed properly, following which her employers attacked her brutally.
Kasthuri Munirathnam's Kin Plead for Her Safe Return From Saudi Arabia
By J Shanmugha Sundaram | ENS
Published: 10th October 2015 04:11 AM
Last Updated:10th October 2015
VELLORE: A day after the Centre strongly condemned the employer of 56-year-old Kasthuri Munirathnam, a Vellore native living in Saudi Arabia, for chopping off her hand, and demanded severe action against the perpetrators, her family expressed satisfaction with the Union Government’s initiative in getting justice for her. They are praying for her quick recovery and safe return to the country, the family said.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj strongly condemned the act of Kasthuri’s employer, terming it “unacceptable”. “We are very much disturbed over the brutal manner in which Indian lady has been treated in Saudi Arabia,” she tweeted.
Noting that Indian mission had “actively” pursued the case, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India raised the case with the Saudi Foreign Ministry on October 7. “Separately, Mission officials have met the police chief as well as the investigating officer and have requested that Munirathinam’s statement be recorded, an independent probe be started and a case of attempted murder lodged against the sponsor,” he said.
“We are extremely happy with the way the government has taken up my mother’s problem. She has worked all her life as a coolie... She went to the foreign country to settle debts that she and my father had taken for our weddings,” said Selvi, her daughter, fighting back tears.
Kasthuri is being treated at the Kingdom Hospital in Riyadh.
It does not end with smuggling of red sander trees. This illegal activity has spawned a variety of criminal activities such as murder, dacoity, vehicle theft, kidnap for ransom and gang wars.
Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts have been witnessing several grave crimes in the last two years. At least eight cases of kidnapping, four-wheeler lifting and murder involving the timber mafias have been reported in the last few months, many of which have gone unreported.
The growing gang wars pose several challenges to law-enforcing agencies.
The latest case involving a red sander gang was reported on Saturday. Three smugglers — Kathiravan, Venkatesan and Prakash of Kelarasampattu — were abducted by a Chennai-based gang on August 26 for a ransom of Rs 20 lakh.
“The gang targets red sander smugglers and abducts them for a huge ransom. We nabbed two of the gang members and rescued the trio,” informs Inspector of Vellore Taluk Station T Pandi.
The murder of Chinnapaiyan of Palur two months ago was yet another case involving a timber mafia gang operating from Irumbulli village, while a gang abducted the brother of red sander smuggler Rajesh of Padavedu for a ransom of Rs 50 lakh.
A charred body of a red sander smuggler, a native of Tiruvannamalai, was found in the forest area in Chittoor district bordering Vellore two weeks ago. Police suspect that he was murdered by his rival gang.
Timber mafia gangs are growing from strength to strength and their tentacles are spreading to northern parts of the State and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
A senior police official recollects a daring act of a red sander gang in September 2013. A gang of seven smugglers wielding deadly weapons attacked their counterpart ‘Bonda’ Venkatesan and his associates, who were having tea in Sri Durga Bhavan Hotel at the heart of the city. They abducted one Chandran of Nammakal over a dispute following a money transaction.
“Such crimes will increase drastically if the government fails to take a strong stance against the gangs of organised crime,” opines another police officer.
‘My cousin subjected to third-degree treatment’
R ajesh (name changed) was into woodcutting till about a year ago. No longer. Now 26, he recounts how he witnessed his cousin’s torture in the hands of Andhra forest officials. He had ventured into the forest more than 10 times till a year ago. After a few more trips, he mastered the routes and learned survival tricks. He decided to do it on his own and lured his friends from Vellore.
His brother was also part of the group. “A year ago, we were surrounded by personnel of the task force. While I managed to escape, my cousin was caught. They tied him in a tree branch upside down and beat him up using tree branches for hours. I watched this from afar. They produced him in a court after keeping him in illegal custody for 22 days,” says Rajesh.
“I was petrified to step into the forest after the incident. I was arrested while transporting logs near Virunjipuram and spent the next 24 days in Vellore central prison. So, I decided to opt out the risky business,” he said.
Unemployment drives us to the trade: Woodcutter
Lack of employment forced Vigash, 23, (name changed) of Valliyur into red sander smuggling four years ago. He was then a school dropout.
“My aim of life is to earn well, spend well and enjoy life. So, I had no second thought when I was offered a job as a woodcutter. For every single trip, I earn anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000. After the encounters, I am not willing to go inside the forest. But lack of employment has been forcing many youth into the high risk business. Once you step into this world, there is little hope of a return to normal life,” he says. He is waiting for his wage of Rs 1 lakh for cutting wood during his last trip. What would it take to wean him away from wood cutting?
“If I got a job that guarantees a monthly salary of Rs 10,000, I would stop.” Many youngsters echo Vigash. They admit they were into felling to help others amass wealth. They say the mesthri who lured them into the illegal activities is now a crorepati. He was a poor farmer five years ago.
Felling red sander trees and smuggling them is not an easy task. Sources say the nexus of smugglers with police and forest department personnel makes the job easy.
And the bond between the kingpins of redwood smuggling network and politicians, police and forest department officials for mutual benefit is growing. Arrests and disciplinary action against police and forest officials in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is proof of this unholy nexus.
While former DSP of Prohibition Enforcement Wing of Vellore, K Thangavel, was suspended and later arrested in connection with red sander smuggling, the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh government has placed a DSP of the Red Sander Anti-Smuggling Special Task Force on waitlist for his alleged connection with red sander smugglers.
(Above) Newly constructed concrete houses; youth, mostly woodcutters, zipping through the village streets on speedy motorbikes | s dineshRecently, a Sub-Inspector of Police and a constable of the Andhra police department were suspended for receiving bribe from smugglers to ensure free passage for the consignments.
“It’s the tip of an iceberg,” says a reliable source in the police department, adding that the smugglers pay a substantial amount to police and forest officials at different levels to smuggle out the logs without any difficulty.
For the corrupt officials, the smugglers are like a hen laying golden eggs. “We pay forest officials so that they do not seize our consignment and also ensure that our vehicles pass their checkposts. The payment is done on an hourly basis,” a woodcutter-cum-transporter informs.
Police have not acted on some of the kingpins of the business. Kerala Babu (alias) Aseem, a top don of the smuggling business, operating from Malur remains untouched. He has connections with top level officials and politicians, it is said. “He was named as a co-accused with DSP Thangavel. The department is not showing interest to arrest him. He is moving freely and continuing his business. At present, he is camping in Chittoor,” says a police officer privy to the investigations.
Another kingpin, Kiruba, is able to continue his activities without any hindrance. He is a top notch smuggler based in Chennai. His brother was arrested recently and nearly 15 tonnes of red sander logs seized from his godown. There are many more Kriubas and Kerala Babus active in the multi-crore smuggling without any hassle.
The government should constitute a multi-agency team to keep a check on this illegal business, and put a stop to the racket, a police official said.
Notorious agents, smugglers in Jawadu hills
Balakrishnan and his brother Shanmugam of Balaprampattu, Vellaiyan and Sekar of Melnammiyampattu, Ramar, Mani and Appasamy of Nammiyampattu, Lognathan (alias) Logu of Muttunattur, Vellaiyan of Valliyur, Subramani, Alagesan and Ravi of Valliyur are a few of the agents sending youth from in and around their villages, according to reliable sources in the police department. There are several cases pending against them in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Balakrishnan and his brother Shanmugam of Balaprampattu, Vellaiyan and Sekar of Melnammiyampattu, Ramar, Mani and Appasamy of Nammiyampattu, Lognathan (alias) Logu of Muttunattur, Vellaiyan of Valliyur, Subramani, Alagesan and Ravi of Valliyur are a few of the agents sending youth from in and around their villages, according to reliable sources in the police department. There are several cases pending against them in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
“Gravel and red sand are in high demand for road-laying works and construction purposes. Quarry contractors illegally smuggle the gravel on the pretext of transporting granite from the sites,” said a retired government staffer in the village, adding that more than 50 loads of gravel and red sand were being smuggled out of the village everyday.
