A Cover Story of a popular Tamil Magazine carried a sensational news that Tamil Nadu government was well informed about the possibility of shoot outs on smugglers. On March 5th, Special Taskforce DIG, Kantha Rao wrote a letter to Tamil Nadu government about the entry of Tamil Coolies in to Seshachalam Forests and indulging in smuggling.
The letter also mentioned that the Task Force even have the orders of shoot out in case situations go out of hands in Forest but Tamil Nadu government did not take it seriously. And it finally became one of the reason for the encounter of 20 Tamil smugglers. However all the parties in Tamil Nadu are now overreacting on the encounter and are leading to violence on Telugu community in Chennai.
Red sandal is an endangered tree with a lot of demand overseas and in the country but is abundantly found in Seshachalam forest. The demand for this wood invoked a lot of smuggling activities in the area. Chandrababu Naidu government had constituted a special task force and given a lot of special privileges and modern weapons to combat the minutest traces of the Red sanders mafia.
