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
VELLORE: A G Perarivalan (alias) Arivu, one of the life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, is hoping that the Supreme Court will set him free on medical grounds.
He has been suffering from hypertension since 1996, and has been in and out of the Vellore Central Prison in the last few years for treatment. His medical reports show that he has a spinal bulge that makes it difficult for him to bend and prevents him from lifting heavy objects, a urinary tract infection and high blood pressure.
A G Perarivalan (alias) ArivuNevertheless, the same health problems may become a ray of hope for his release. His counsel S Prabhu said the medical history is vital for his remission and that it could ultimately lead to his release.
The Central government had approached the Supreme Court objecting to the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to release seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case — including Nalini Sriharan, Sriharan alias Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Robert Payas, P Ravichandran and Jayakumar alias Jayakumaran. The apex court, after hearing the arguments, has reserved its judgment.
“The State government has strongly put forth the health status of Perarivalan before the Supreme Court for consideration of his remission,” said K Siva Kumar, another advocate. While many are keeping their fingers crossed about the verdict, Perarivalan sounded confident in the letter, which he concluded by saying that he would meet this correspondent after stepping out of prison as a free man.
Alcohol Addiction Snuffs Out Lives In Vellore Village Comprising 200 Widows
By J Shanmugha Sundaram
Published: 08th August 2015 04:20 AM
VELLORE: Thirty-five year-old Ponkodi of Madapalli village, about 120 km from Vellore, toils everyday to take care of her three children. Her life changed three years ago when her husband died due to alcoholism, making her the sole breadwinner of the family.
Ponkodi’s sister Thamizhselvi’s ordeal is no better. Also a widow, the 30-year-old has been struggling with each passing day to raise her five children after her husband’s death one-and-a-half years ago.
Like Ponkodi and Thamizhselvi, many women in Madapalli have lost their husbands to the liquor menace. Locals claim that the village has not less than 200 widows, including around 70 in their mid 20s, giving Madapalli the name ‘village of widows’.
In fact, every minute, one can see a widow in the village. “Though there is no proper documentation or record about the number of widows in the village, we can say that for every 50 families, there will be 25 to 30 widows,” said a government employee in the village.
Till a few years ago, Madapalli was a brewing ground for illicit liquor. Several families were involved in brewing and selling liquor for decades, with the men ending up addicted to it. “Though police have managed to rid the village of illicit liquor to some extent, alcoholism continues to haunt the womenfolk of Madapalli,” said S Rajendran, panchayat president.
“My husband died three years ago. He is like many men in the village who were addicted to liquor and died due to over consumption,” Ponkodi said and added that her brother-in-law Perumal, a drunkard, died of over consumption leaving her sister to struggle with five children.
Vellore: Red sander mafias have a free run in Vellore
district, which is a transit point of the smuggling of the precious woods,
after the law enforcing agencies have lost it track to check the illegal
activities. The disbandment of the special team led by Inspector C Martin
Premraj, which constituted to curtail the smuggling of the logs in one of the
prime route, favoured the mafias. The team was disbanded after
Though the police officials admitted that not less
than six to seven tonnes of red sander logs worth around Rs 10 crore`in
international market smuggled through Vellore to Chennai and Bangaluru, it is
surprising that not a single seizure reported for over two months now.
The last seizure was on June 14 when a team of police
personnel seized 1.5 tonnes of logs near Thottalam near Madhanur. The logs had
ferried from Andhra Pradesh via Thottalam, one of the prime smuggling routes to
Bangalore. “More than 15 groups (with over 40 members) of smugglers are operating on a daily basis,” said
The smugglers enter into the district from Paratharami
route (Latheri – Sethuvalai – National Highway (NH) – Anaicut and Chennai via
NH), Ponnai route (Thakkolam – Sungavachathiram (Thiruvallur) and Chennai)
Ponnai route – II (Sholinghur – Thakkolam – Balachettipuram – NH and
Chennai). Pernambut route (Tirupathi –
Pernambut- Gudiyattam – Thottalam or Mathanur – Anaicut and Malur in Bangalore
via NH). Most of the smuggled logs ferried to the godowns of the kingpins
operating from Malur in Bangalore city and Red Hills and Kasimedu in Chennai.
“At least 20 loads of red sander logs weighing between
300 kg and 2 tonnes are smuggled in
sports utility vehicles, sedan cars and mini vans per day,” said a police
official. For smuggling half a tonne of logs to Chennai, the smugglers pay
around Rs 80,000 to the driver and the vehicle owner. Such is the stake in this
illegal business.
It is obvious that many police officials and politicians are hand-in-glove with the
timber mafias to make quick money. The arrest of former DSP K Thangavel in
connection with red sander smuggling case has
lent credence to the claims. “This unholy alliance helps the
mafias to spread its tentacles and carry out their business without any
hiccups,” said a police official, who was part of a special team that
constituted to crack down the red sander mafias.
Despite receiving information about smuggling of logs,
many police officials failed to act. “The police officials are making huge
amount as bribe,” said the police source.
Superintendent of Police P K Senthil Kumari said that the department continues its
surveillance to prevent smuggling of logs and the AP police have also stepped
up security along the border areas to check the illegal activities. “Though one
of the special teams disbanded, there is still a seven member team. They are
working to nab the smugglers,” she further said./eom/shan/
VELLORE: Residents of the district of Vellore, Tirupattur and Jolarpet and beyond gathered at the memorial in Tirupattur on Thursday to honour and pay tribute to police personnel on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the successful conclusion of Operation Ajanta that freed northern Tamil Nadu of the scourge and terror of Naxalism, rampant in the area at the time.
If north Tamil Nadu is largely free of Naxalism and the terror it invoked, it is largely because of the bravery of the police personnel involved in Operation Ajanta.
Those who gathered remembered afresh that Operation Ajanta eliminated the Naxals from Tirupattur, Jolarpet and surrounding areas in the erstwhile North Arcot district three decades ago to the day.
Operation Ajanta was so named by the then Chief Minister of Tamil nadu, MG Ramachandran, in honour of Jolarpet Inspector V Palanisamy’s six-year-old daughter Ajanta. Thirty five years ago on August 6, Palanisamy and two police constables — C Murugesan and R Yesudoss — were killed in a bomb attack by a notorious Naxalite, Sivalingam, of Jolarpet. Sivalingam’s associate Selvam was also killed when the bomb was hurled at the three policemen who were on their way to the Tirupattur taluk police station for interrogation.
Sivalingam disappeared from the police radar after the killings and was arrested only in 2009.
“The incident happened a week after I took charge as DIG of the range,” former DGP of Tamil Nadu Walter Devaram told Express on the sidelines of the 35th Commemoration Day.
“Within a year, we had uprooted the Naxalites from this part of the State and ensured they do not resurge in the future,” said Devaram and attributed a large part of the success of the operation to public support.
It may be recalled that around 100 policemen split into three to four teams and encountered 19 Naxalities — including prominent Naxals Kannamani, Rathinavel, Anbu, Irutupatchai.
“We encountered three Naxals on August 21, in the year 1981 in Naickaneri hills near Ambur and also seized Chinese made weapons from them,” added the former DGP.
VELLORE: Farmers of two panchayats — Girisamuthiram and Necknamalai — have been irrigating their fields with sewage water from Vaniyambadi Municipality for the last three decades, rather than groundwater, since they believe the groundwater was highly polluted with effluents from the leather industries.
A man shows the water from a rivulet that is contaminated by effluent from tanneries, in Vellore |
Crops such as paddy, corn, maize, sugarcane and fodder are being grown on 500 acres of land that have been irrigated with sewage water in these two panchayats. It is also used for coconut farms, besides feeding livestock. The farmers divert the municipality sewage water from Girisamuthiram channel to their lands. “We share the sewage water among ourselves. We mix it with the well water in 3:1 ratio and use it for irrigation,” said 53-year-old farmer Arumugam of Girisamuthiram. He also feeds his milch animals the filtered sewage water.
Using sewage water to irrigate the fields of Girisamuthiram and Necknamalai has been in vogue for the past 30 years and has become an ‘acceptable’ practice, as farmers contend it is a choice between the lesser of two evils. The farmers claim that the groundwater has Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of over 5,000 mg/l while sewage water from the Vaniyambadi municipality has around 2,000 TDS mg/l. “Ground water in and around Girisamuthiram has been declared unfit for human consumption. The TDS level has crossed over 5,000 mg/l. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board’s (TNPCB) monitoring well in the vicinity is a clear proof for this,” said a farmer and added that they were forced to use sewage for irrigation due to non-availability of good water sources.
The farmers allege, perhaps justifiably, that the leather industry has caused ecological damage discharging untreated effluents into water bodies, particularly the Palar riverbed. “If we use the well water, the crops wither due to the high level of TDS. The sewage water has now turned into a lifeline for the agricultural activities here,” said farmer Prakasam in Girisamuthiram.
Despite the farmers considering the sewage water to be their ‘lifeline’, experts from Krishi Vigyan Kendra say that the practice of irrigating the fields with sewage water will harm the soil and that agri-produce grown on such soil would be unfit for human consumption.
However, farmers associations dissuade such practice. “Poor monsoon and depleting ground water force many farmers to use the sewage water for irrigation at many places. But is not an acceptable practice,” said a member of Tamil Nadu Vivasaigal Sangam L C Mani.
Professor and Head of KVK, Virinjipuram, M Pandiyan said that the presence of ammonium in high level in sewage discharge will boost the growth of crops. It contains several hazardous metals apart from ammonium. These metals will turn the agriculture produce unfit for human or animal consumption and also spoil the soil. “It will cause health hazard for those who consume the produce. Farmers should stop from following such practice,” said Pandiyan.
