This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/world/asia/india-loggers-andhra-pradesh.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Indian Police Shoot and Kill 20 Said to Be Illegally Cutting Down Trees | Indian Police Shoot and Kill 20 Said to Be Illegally Cutting Down Trees |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| NEW DELHI — The Indian police and forestry officials on Tuesday fatally shot 20 loggers whom they suspected of illegally cutting down endangered red sandalwood trees, whose wood can be sold in China and Japan for hundreds of thousands of dollars a ton. | NEW DELHI — The Indian police and forestry officials on Tuesday fatally shot 20 loggers whom they suspected of illegally cutting down endangered red sandalwood trees, whose wood can be sold in China and Japan for hundreds of thousands of dollars a ton. |
| Government officials offered varying explanations of the killings, which were condemned by activists and political figures as an excessive use of force. | Government officials offered varying explanations of the killings, which were condemned by activists and political figures as an excessive use of force. |
| A police official said that a team of law enforcement officers intercepted “a large group of smugglers” and demanded that they surrender, and that the loggers “retaliated with firearms and axes,” wounding six officers. The police then opened fire with rifles, killing nine people in one location and 11 in another, said R.P. Thakur, additional director general of the police in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. | A police official said that a team of law enforcement officers intercepted “a large group of smugglers” and demanded that they surrender, and that the loggers “retaliated with firearms and axes,” wounding six officers. The police then opened fire with rifles, killing nine people in one location and 11 in another, said R.P. Thakur, additional director general of the police in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. |
| A different account came from Ravi Kumar, a forestry official stationed near the site of the killings, who said that the loggers were armed only with axes and other logging equipment, and that no police or forest officials had been hurt. He said the loggers, ages 17 to 26, “attacked the police team and tried to steal their weapons,” prompting the police to open fire. | A different account came from Ravi Kumar, a forestry official stationed near the site of the killings, who said that the loggers were armed only with axes and other logging equipment, and that no police or forest officials had been hurt. He said the loggers, ages 17 to 26, “attacked the police team and tried to steal their weapons,” prompting the police to open fire. |
| The death toll on Tuesday was the largest documented in the decades-old cat-and-mouse game between loggers and the police. Red sandalwood is not especially prized in India, but it sells for exorbitant prices in East Asia, where it is used to make musical instruments, ornamental furniture, cosmetics, medicines and small statues of Buddha. | The death toll on Tuesday was the largest documented in the decades-old cat-and-mouse game between loggers and the police. Red sandalwood is not especially prized in India, but it sells for exorbitant prices in East Asia, where it is used to make musical instruments, ornamental furniture, cosmetics, medicines and small statues of Buddha. |
| The price per ton of the rosy-colored wood can range from $32,000 to as high as $320,000, Mr. Kumar said. Drawn by these prices, he said, sandalwood smugglers “operate in big groups, like mafia,” hiring young contract workers from nearby Tamil Nadu State for about 8,000 rupees, or about $129, for a week’s work and dispatching them in groups of 50 to 100. He described the logging teams as “very aggressive.” | The price per ton of the rosy-colored wood can range from $32,000 to as high as $320,000, Mr. Kumar said. Drawn by these prices, he said, sandalwood smugglers “operate in big groups, like mafia,” hiring young contract workers from nearby Tamil Nadu State for about 8,000 rupees, or about $129, for a week’s work and dispatching them in groups of 50 to 100. He described the logging teams as “very aggressive.” |
| In a 2013 confrontation, red sandalwood loggers killed four forestry officials and wounded three others, he added. Ten woodcutters were killed in a series of encounters that followed. | In a 2013 confrontation, red sandalwood loggers killed four forestry officials and wounded three others, he added. Ten woodcutters were killed in a series of encounters that followed. |
| Indian television stations on Tuesday showed bodies strewn on the forest floor, and political figures from Tamil Nadu denounced the killing. V. Gopalsamy, a regional party leader known as Vaiko, called it “unjustified and cruel firing.” He said officials would do better to file criminal cases, and prosecute and jail those engaged in illegal logging. | Indian television stations on Tuesday showed bodies strewn on the forest floor, and political figures from Tamil Nadu denounced the killing. V. Gopalsamy, a regional party leader known as Vaiko, called it “unjustified and cruel firing.” He said officials would do better to file criminal cases, and prosecute and jail those engaged in illegal logging. |
| “After all, they were poor laborers and earning their bread and butter,” he said. “The real sharks, the smugglers, are sitting at a far distance, and police are killing poor laborers in the name of smugglers.” | “After all, they were poor laborers and earning their bread and butter,” he said. “The real sharks, the smugglers, are sitting at a far distance, and police are killing poor laborers in the name of smugglers.” |
| The smuggling of valuable wood is rampant in the region where the killings took place, but very little of it is ever reported to the authorities, said D.V. Ramana, a finance professor at Sri Venkateswara University in Andhra Pradesh who has studied the economics of the red sandalwood forest. Other experts say smugglers often set forest fires deliberately, using the distraction to covertly cut and remove the wood. | The smuggling of valuable wood is rampant in the region where the killings took place, but very little of it is ever reported to the authorities, said D.V. Ramana, a finance professor at Sri Venkateswara University in Andhra Pradesh who has studied the economics of the red sandalwood forest. Other experts say smugglers often set forest fires deliberately, using the distraction to covertly cut and remove the wood. |
| Illegal smuggling is done on a large scale in the area, which covers around 2,000 square miles in southern Andhra Pradesh, adjacent to Tamil Nadu. | Illegal smuggling is done on a large scale in the area, which covers around 2,000 square miles in southern Andhra Pradesh, adjacent to Tamil Nadu. |
| In the past, some red sandalwood smugglers have become so wealthy and influential that they directly challenged their regions’ political leaders. | |
| Mr. Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, suspected that a powerful smuggler named Kollam Gangi Reddy had plotted his murder, and petitioned the state’s governor to take stern action. Mr. Reddy fled India to escape a charge of conspiracy to murder Mr. Naidu. | |
| He was arrested in Mauritius on the basis of an Interpol red alert, and India is currently pursuing extradition. |