Smuggler Mukesh Badani arrested from Hisar, red sanders worth Rs 20 cr recovered

“The Andhra Pradesh police had arrested a gang of smugglers. During their interrogation, they revealed information about Badani. The AP police informed us and we formed a special team. The AP police teams arrived and we conducted a joint operation. Mukesh Badani was hiding in somebody’s house in Mangali village in Hisar. We conducted the raid and nabbed him. The AP police took him with them. They should be in a better position to reveal more details about the arrest and recoveries,” said Satender Kumar Gupta, Superintendent of Police, Hisar district.

According to the information, Badani and his gang had procured the precious red sanders logs from Rayalaseema districts and then transported them to Haryana through different channels. Andhra Pradesh police is probing Mukesh’s links with the Chinese red sanders buyer Yang Ping, who was arrested by the Chittoor police in Hyderabad last week. “We are also probing his affiliations or associations with people in Hisar where he had developed his hideout. We shall be questioning a few people with whom he was staying here in Mangali, Hisar,” one of the senior Haryana police officers told The Indian Express.

A few police officers from Andhra Pradesh police are also under scanner for their alleged links with the red sanders smugglers. Several tons of logs along with 18 red sanders logs were reported missing from Ontimitta police station on Thursday night, which were finally recovered from Mukesh Badani’s possession in Hisar.