A special police force fired on Tuesday 20 suspected smugglers red sandalwood killed in Andhra Pradesh Chittor, considered a hotbed of illegal trade of rare wood, an incident that raised questions about the use of force against unarmed people.
Police said it was the largest number of casualties in a single incident in the state that up a special task force last year to deal with organized gangs of traffickers involved in felling trees red sanders, listed as endangered extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
Red sandalwood is very popular in China and other Asian countries that used to make furniture, musical instruments and is also used in alternative medicine. Logging, transport and sale of red sanders is banned in India.
“About 20 traffickers were killed in the incident that can be termed as a breakthrough,” said Interior Minister Andhra Pradesh Nimmakayala Chinarajappa.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) RP Thakur said the “smugglers” – reportedly at 100 – attacked security personnel with stones and axes when challenged.
The incident took place in the forests of Tirupati hills district, about 500 km from Hyderabad.
Police said the bodies were found in an area one mile.
Personal task forces and forest officials continued joint operations to search for the remaining smugglers and workers who escaped into the woods hairstyle.
Police also sounded an alert in adjacent districts to prevent smugglers escape.
One official said they were still identifying the dead, but all were believed from neighboring Tamil Nadu.
In India, red sanders found naturally in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu north. Chittoor and Kadapa districts have vast tracts of forest where the red sanders grow in abundance.
According to estimates, a kilo of red sanders bought at about 500 rupees in India can bring anything between Rs 3,000 to Rs 12,000 in China and other countries, so the wood would a lucrative proposition for smugglers, according to police.
There have been several meetings between police and traffickers with casualties on both sides.
Two forest rangers were killed and three wounded in an attack by smugglers in the same district in December 2013.
In May last year, police had killed three smugglers, also in Chittoor.
However, human rights activists say the smugglers are poor woodcutters called employees in most cases by organized gangs.
VS Krishna, general secretary of Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Forum, said a previous attack described by police as a weapon for battle had proved “unilateral dismissal” by police.
Many victims of such incidents were poor migrant workers from neighboring Tamil Nadu, said.
After the TDP government came to power last year, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu pledged to end the red sanders smuggling and formed a working group comprising police and forest officials under a DIG to stop the illegal practice.
After a red corner notice was issued by the state police, Gangi Reddy, a capo of the racket was arrested in Mauritius some time ago.
Last year, the state had won over Rs1,000 crore global auction last year.
The government had in December 2014 made the global electronic auction of 4,160 tonnes of red sanders logs confiscated from smugglers in recent years.
More than 3,000 traffickers were arrested and 2,025 tonnes of red sanders seized during 2013.
