Deputy chief minister and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Friday asked the officials to catch people behind smuggling of red sanders. He held a review meeting with the officials of the forest and police at his camp office on the day.

The police have seized Rs 1.6 crore worth of red sanders dump at Jagananna Colony in Potladurthi of Kadapa district on the day. The police seized 158 logs of red sanders on the day. The police informed the deputy chief minister about the catch.

Later, Pawan Kalyan told the officials to catch the people behind the smuggling. Arresting of workers and seizure of logs is not going to end the menace, he told the officials. He wanted them to catch the real people behind the smuggling. He wanted the officials to eye on those who are running this racket and executing the smuggling.

He reviewed the red sanders cases filed in the state so far and their present stage. He also enquired about the previous cases where judgements were released. He also enquired about the red sanders logs seized in other states and the present status. He wanted the officials to see that those logs were brought to the state at the earliest.

The red sanders are smuggled to Nepal mostly and the officials have seized several logs there. The logs were kept under police security and cases are in various stages. The deputy chief minister wanted the officials to focus on these cases and ensure that they are resolved early and the logs are brought to the state.

The deputy chief minister also enquired about auctioning of red sanders. He took the history of the red sanders auction held in the state so far and the plans to auction in future. He also collected the data on the available red sanders logs in the state, which could be auctioned in future.