Till the other day, it was the Telugu Desam Party who was accusing the YSR Congress party leaders of being hand in glove with the red sanders smugglers. In fact, the kingpin in the red sanders smuggling Gangi Reddy is said to have links with the YSRC, according to TDP allegations.
On Friday, the main opposition party turned tables on the TDP government, alleging that the latter was shielding red sander smugglers who are looting the natural resource.
“The task force has been ill-equipped in terms of weapons, powers and man power and it has to play a second fiddle to the Forest Department which has been hamper the progress and this is being done by design as many TDP leaders are giving a helping hand to the illegal activity,” party leader Bhuman Karunakar Reddy said.
Though chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu boasted that he had put down the red sander smuggling with an iron hand, there was no progress and it has been by design and red sander smuggling has been going on unabated in five districts, he said.
His claim that the amount realised from the auction of the seized red sanders would be used for loan waiver of farmers and DWACRA groups did not see light of the day and the natural resource has been publicly looted.
“We demand that a special force be set up on the lines of Grey Hounds to check the red sander smuggling as the force has to fan 11 lakh acres spread over five districts and has over 1.10 crores trees. This natural resource has been misused by miscreants and the government has been helping them instead of checking the menace,” he said.
