VELLORE: A fugitive police officer with alleged links to the red sander mafia surrendered before police here on Wednesday. Thangavel, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Prohibition Enforcement Wing, Vellore, who was allegedly involved in red sander smuggling and was absconding, surrendered before the Vellore district police.
He has been on the run since May 29 after his nexus with the red sander mafia came to light.
The DSP surrendered before the special team led by DSP of Katpadi Mathivannan near Christianpet.
“We received reliable information that the DSP was travelling in a hired cab from Chittoor to Vellore. Acting on the tip-off, the special team under Katpadi DSP secured him. We are interrogating him (Thangavel) at the Paratharami police station,” Superintendent of Police of Vellore P K Senthil Kumari told Express.
On learning about his inevitable arrest, he was sneaking out of the district.
The police, following direction from top officers, constituted special teams and despatched them to Kanchee-puram, Chennai, Madurai, Theni, Mudukulathur (Ramnad) and Rameswaram districts and Bengaluru as well. But it was in vain as he remained at large, with no clue about his whereabouts.
“He gave us sleepless nights. We were on the move looking for him for the past 12 days and travelled several hundred kilometres,” said a police officer.
The inquiry into the murder of sander smuggler, Chinnapayan of Palur, unearthed the police-red sander mafia link.
“The arrest of a couple — Nagendran and Jothi Lakhsmi, natives of Alagiri Nagar in Sathuvachari — revealed that the Thangavel was in constant touch with them. He had also been receiving hefty cash regularly as bribe from them,” said a police officer privy to the investigation. Thangavel allegedly helped the couple forcibly take away tonnes of red sander logs from Chinnapayan on May 24.
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