Police probe into whether bodies found in Ontimitta Lake are of woodcutters
After the bodies of five men were found floating on Ontimitta Lake in Kadappa district of Andhra Pradesh, police are now probing whether the men were woodcutters linked with red sanders smugglers.
Axes, sickles, torches and food items have been found in their backpacks, recovered near the lake, say police sources.
Police suspect that the men were from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, brought by red sanders smugglers to work in the Seshachalam forests, bordering both states.
Sources say, the woodcutters may have jumped into the lake, fearing being caught by the police. The Red Sanders Task Force of the state police recently intensified operations, to check smuggling and last week, police had fired in the air to disperse a group of woodcutters trying to attack forest officials.
Police though deny any encounter in the area, and claim no red sanders smuggling gang has been traced, but search operations are on.
Eyewitnesses have told NDTV that the men seemed to be between 35 and 40, with minimum clothes on them. They alerted the local police after seeing the bodies floating on the lake.
The last encounter between smugglers of the rare wood and police happened in April 2015, when 20 red sanders woodcutters were shot dead by the Andhra Pradesh police and several smugglers were arrested. After the encounter, tensions between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu had escalated with protests in Chennai, as the woodcutters were from Villipuram and Vellore in Tamil Nadu.
The Seshachalam forests are known for the red sanders, which are in great demand in the international market for its use in aphrodisiac drugs and for making musical instruments and furniture.