India: In a prized catch, an international smuggler based in China, K.A. Dawood Jagir alias Jakir, 52, involved in 57 cases, and his cousin and aide Firoz Dastagir were arrested and 190 red sanders logs weighing five tonnes were seized by Kadapa district police at Akepadu Crossroads on Rajampet-Rayachoti Road in Kadapa district on Saturday, Inspector-General of Police, South Zone, N. Sridhar Rao, said on Saturday.

Jagir, a key aide of international smugglers Kollam Gangi Reddy and Sahul Hameed alias Sahul Bhai of Dubai, also has links with international smugglers Chen Chengai, Santhan Meeran, Jang Yang and Wang Li Fa of China, Jimmy of Hong Kong, Hanif and David of Singapore and Shanmugan of Myanmar, Mr. Sridhar Rao told the media.

Besides the logs, two cars, a lorry, a mini-van, two mobile phones, one tab and Rs.10,000 were seized from them. Jagir, who had been involved in red sanders smuggling for 16 years and involved in 34 cases in Kadapa district, 22 in Chittoor district and one case in Kurnool district, was arrested for the first time now, the IGP said.

Explaining the antecedents of the accused, Mr. Rao said Dawood Jagir, a native of Mannadi in Chennai, who was a seventh standard dropout, moved to China in 1997 and started an LED bulb business. He married Li Yan and settled down at Yanguang in Peng Jiang district in Guan Dong State in China and also shuttled to Colombo in Sri Lanka.

Some Myanmarese who migrated to Tamil Nadu and were involved in red sanders smuggling, contacted Jagir as he was proficient in Tamil, English, Chinese, German, Urdu, Hindi, Burmese and Japanese languages and he too got involved in red sanders smuggling, the IGP said.

Firoz Dastagir, Jagir’s cousin, who worked as car driver in Chennai, had been transporting the contraband from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other States to places stipulated by Jagir, he added.

As several arrested smugglers named Jagir of China, Kadapa district police officials kept track on his movements and nabbed him and his cousin during vehicle checking when he came to Kadapa district, the IGP said.

(Source: The Hindu)