Key red sanders smuggler Kollam Gangi Reddy was brought to Hyderabad from New Delhi on Sunday and is under the custody of the Andhra Pradesh police after being deported from Mauritius.
Reddy had escaped from the country while on bail in May last year and was arrested in Mauritius in February this year.
“In 2014, when the police was busy with elections, Reddy was granted bail. He fled to Dubai using a false passport and documents and visited several countries like Ghana and Madagascar. He was on the run till his arrest in Mauritius. After crossing some legal hurdles, he has now been brought back here,” Andhra Pradesh DGP JV Ramudu said.
Reddy will be produced in a court in Proddatur town. He has 28 cases against him apart from a conviction for which he has to serve the remaining 18 months in jail.
Ramudu said the Enforcement Directorate was also probing the smuggler’s properties.
Apart from his involvement in red sanders smuggling through which he has amassed around Rs 400 crore, Reddy was also involved in the Maoist mine attack on Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in October 2003 at Tirupati.
{{/usCountry}}Apart from his involvement in red sanders smuggling through which he has amassed around Rs 400 crore, Reddy was also involved in the Maoist mine attack on Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in October 2003 at Tirupati.
{{/usCountry}}He is believed to have major political connections and his arrest under the TDP regime, which vowed to curb red sanders smuggling, may spill the beans on the politician-smuggler nexus in the activity.
“We will not leave anyone who is involved in this illegal business,” the DGP said.
The gunning down of 20 smugglers from Tamil Nadu near Tirupati in April this year has put focus on the international smuggling racket running into thousands of crores.