Blood Sander - They do not exist even in the records

They do not exist even in the records

Shanmugha Sundaram.J
 TNN | Updated: Feb 14, 2018, 12:00 IST
Since the April 2015 shootout in which 20 men from Tamil Nadu were gunned down in the Seshachalam reserve forest in Andhra Pradesh, for reportedly felling and smuggling red sanders, the Red Sander Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) in that state has maintained that no smuggler has been killed. People of Jawadhu Hills, who comprise the major workforce for the smugglers, have a different story. About a dozen people who left for the AP forests in the past two years were brought back dead or remain untraceable, they say.



Two months ago, an agent from Jawadhu Hills took Kesavan of Irumbuli in Jawadhu Hills and 30 others to the AP forests. There has been no word about Kesavan since then, says his family which continues to search for him.



A man close to the family, quoting one of Kesavan’s accomplices, says four people including Kesavan were shot dead by the special task force and that the agent has been allegedly trying to placate the families with compensation of Rs 1 lakh each.

Twenty-two year old Settu, son of Chinnasamy of Puliyankuppam, went missing nearly eight months ago. “Elders in our family tried to trace him in vain. We learned from his friends that he had gone to AP forests,” said Settu’s cousin.

Sources say AP police no longer publicise killings of smugglers. As brokers pay blood money, kin of the deceased do not prefer complaints.

“Whenever someone is arrested by the task force, advocates in Tirupati, Kadapa and nearby areas contact us. They help our men secure bail. In the process, they make good money,” says a woodcutter who got bail after spending Rs 80,000 on an advocate and providing two sureties of Rs 15,000 each.

Sources in the task force say the team opened fire 29 times between June 20, 2015 and December 7, 2017 in Chandragiri, Tirupati, Nagapatia east and west beats, Chittoor east and several other areas, but that no casualty was reported Kantha Rao, deputy inspector general of police, RSASTF, told TOI that there was no killing after the April 2015 twin encounters. “We are trying hard to prevent felling of trees. But it is a herculean task as the woodcutters come in hundreds,” he said. “We have arrested around 10,000 woodcutters from TN in the last couple of years, besides 26 international smugglers from China and other East Asian countries.”

A social worker in Jawadhu Hills says the woodcutters are a close-knit group and little is known about them outside their circle.

Graphics

Interceptions and arrests of TN smugglers by Task Force from 2015 to 2017: a total of 10,558 woodcutters arrested. Of them, 2,631 from Tiruvannamalai, 2385 from Vellore, 1943 from Salem, 952 from Villupuram and 568 from Dharmapuri.

International smugglers: A total of 26 international smugglers have been arrested – 16 from China, three each from Nepal and Tibet and one each from Singapore, Sri Lanka, Dubai and Malaysia.

Seven stages of red sander smuggling network: woodcutters are at the bottom of pyramid style network, stage II – mastry (agent), stage III – pilot/logistic suppliers, stage IV – transporters, stage V – godown keeper, stage VI exporters and stage VII – international smugglers.

Woodcutters paid Rs 500 to 700 per kg of the dressed hardwood of the red sander. They have to cut the hardwood into transportable sizes of 6 to 8 ft and carry them from deep inside the forest to collecting point along motorable road.  The price increase tenfold when it reaches the international market. 

‘A’ quality red sanders logs sold at Rs 50 to 70 lakh per tonne in black mark

Graphics

On April 7, 2015, 20 men gunned down in alleged encounters – 11 and 9 – in two separate places in Seshachalam Reserve Forest, AP by the Red Sander Anti-Smuggling Task Force.

Two cases (Cr No 42/2015 and Cr No 43/2015) filed in connection with the encounters in Chandragiri Police Station in Chittoor, AP following complaints from the task force.  

Lucky three: M Illango, 22, of Melkanavayur in Tiruvannamalai district escaped from the jaw of death at the hands of the task force. He and two others - Balachandran of Sitherimalai in Dharmapuri – were key witnesses in twin encounters. The trio’s statements flatten the AP’s task force encounter theory.

On April 12, 2015, Muniammal lodged a complaint against the Red Sander Anti-Smuggling Task Force for gunning down her husband and 19 others.

On April 16, 2015: Two-member bench of Hyderabad High Court – comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar - ordered re-postmortem of A Sasikumar, one of the victims, following a plea from his wife Muniammal.

On April 17, 2015, the HC bench ordered re-post-mortem of five others.

On April 20, 2015, a case was filed against the task force under sections 302 (murder), 364 (kidnap or abducting in order to murder) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC in Chandragiri Police Station in Chittoor, AP.

On April 20, 2015, Hyderabad HC ordered to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) under Ravi Shankar Ayyanar to probe into the alleged encounters.

From May 11 to 16, 2015, NHRC’s investigation team visited Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri and Salem districts to conduct spot inquiry with the family members of the victims

May 29, 2015: NHRC recommended to transfer the alleged encounter cases to CBI and also release an interim relief of Rs 5 lakh to the victims’ families. However, AP government obtained a stay order against the NHRC’s direction.

Now, the case is pending before the IV Judicial Magistrate Court in Tirupathi. Last hearing of the case held on Tuesday (February 13, 2018). The advocates of the victims’ families have sought the court to furnish SIT’s inquiry report to precede the case.  

The victims’ families demanding the TN government to extend legal support to defend the case and strike down the stay order obtained by the AP government against the NHRC’s recommendations./eom/shan/