CHAMARAJANAGAR: Five people have been arrested by the Forest Department for smuggling red sanders in a pickup truck carrying vegetables.
The vehicle was intercepted near Lakkur on the Chamarajanagar-Gundlupet road on Wednesday evening. Two motorcycles were also trailing the pickup truck.
The accused had hid 50 kg of red sanders under bags of vegetables. They have been identified as Ravi of Bengaluru, Anand of Chamarajanagar, Govindaraju, Asgar Pasha and Mahendra, according to Bandipur Assistant Conservator of Forests Ravindra.
They were handed over to the police who produced them before a court. The arrested have been remanded to judicial custody.