Seshachalam Forest is not merely a forest; it is the sacred abode of Lord Balaji, blessed by the seven holy hills. And here, in this divine place, a heinous crime is being committed against our nation, our economy, our faith and our environment.
We speak of the Red Sanders tree. This incredible wealth, this Rakta Chandanam, is found nowhere else on Earth. It is a unique treasure, and it carries the spiritual weight of our people. Legends say it emerged from the divine blood of Lord Venkateswara himself! To cut this tree is not just a forestry crime—it is a spiritual desecration!
These trees are not lifeless wood. We know from the work of the great Indian scientist, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, that plants feel pain and shock. They live in a community, what the German forester Peter Wohlleben calls the "Wood-Wide Web." They share, they communicate, they protect each other.
When a mother tree is felled, the entire network shudders with an agonizing electric shock. The criminals who wield the axe are tearing apart a living, sacred community! They see only the red treasure, but we see the wounded faith of millions!
The recent inspection of the godowns at the Mangalam Depot reflected a chilling testament to the plunder of the last few years. It is a silent graveyard. 2.6 lakh logs—the severed remains of an estimated 1.3 lakh Mother trees—stolen, butchered, and stacked as numbered inventory. The financial theft alone is staggering: ₹2,000 crore, perhaps ₹5,000 crore, stolen directly from the State Exchequer and our national future! This is money that belongs to our people, money that should be building roads, schools and hospitals.
But this raises critical questions
How can a few people encroach on forest lands so easily?
Who gives them the audacity to cut down the red sandalwood trees without fear?
How do they smuggle them in broad daylight, escaping from the police, the security, the government agencies, and the community around the forest?
The answers point to systemic failure and a terrible lack of political will in the past. We must stop asking why and start demanding justice.
It’s time all those culprits faced the law and its consequences! No more can individuals treat these ancient forests as gardens in their backyards or treat the Endangered Red Sanders as their personal property.
Our coalition government will not tolerate the smuggling of Red Sanders any longer. We are identifying the smugglers, kingpins and all culprits involved. We will not just arrest them; we will seize their assets under the Forest Act!
A special, full-fledged operation, similar to the Centre's 'Operation Kagar,' to wipe out every single individual involved in this illegal trade shall be initiated soon. We will ensure fear among the smugglers so that no one, no one, dares to touch a single Red Sanders tree again.
The Red Sanders is a life that feels, it is our national wealth, and it is sacred. We are watching, and we will protect the wealth of our nation and the divine sanctity of Seshachalam!
#OperationAranya
I would like to convey my heartfelt appreciation for your risky and painstaking efforts. Public need to know this. You will be invited soon for a roundtable on redsanders smuggling.
Thank you, Pawan Kalyan garu, Deputy CM & Minister for Environment, for your compliments on documentary Planet Killers which is a real account of the Red Sanders investigation. Your appreciation means a great deal to all of us who have worked painstakingly on this project.
The investigative documentary is based on my book Red Sanders: The Great Forest Heist, an in-depth exposé of the smuggling networks operating across India. The book was released by the then Chief Justice of India, Justice N. V. Ramana, and the film builds on years of reporting, documentation, and fieldwork. The documentary is produced by Martin boudot and directed by Hugo Van Offel, who is also the director of the Netflix series Most Wanted White widow episode.
The film was shot across multiple countries and key locations central to the Red Sanders smuggling trail — Seshachalam forest, Tirupati, Hyderabad, Guntur, Kadapa, Chennai and Javadhu Hills in Tamil Nadu (where several woodcutters originate), as well as France, Interpol Headquarters in Lyon, the Environmental Division of Interpol in Singapore, and Dubai, where we eventually traced the smuggler Sahul Hameed. I was one of the journalists who tracked him for decades, and much of the documentary evidence emerged from these long years of investigation.
This project demanded extensive ground reporting — travelling into remote terrain, climbing inaccessible forest patches, speaking to woodcutters, smugglers, ex-officers, police personnel, and enforcement agencies across states. We also filmed in Chennai while retracing the origins of the network and interviewed Gangi Reddy, one of the key names in the case.
Thank you once again, Pawan Kalyan garu, for recognising this work. I look forward to continued conversations and hope that together we can push for stronger protection, enforcement, and ecological justice for Red Sanders — one of India’s most endangered and vulnerable species.
@PawanKalyan #RedSandersSmuggling #PlanetKillers #BloodSanders
Thank you, Pawan Kalyan garu, Deputy CM & Minister for Environment, for your compliments on documentary Planet Killers which is a real account of the Red Sanders investigation. Your appreciation means a great deal to all of us who have worked painstakingly on this project.
The investigative documentary is based on my book Red Sanders: The Great Forest Heist, an in-depth exposé of the smuggling networks operating across India. The book was released by the then Chief Justice of India, Justice N. V. Ramana, and the film builds on years of reporting, documentation, and fieldwork. The documentary is produced by Martin boudot and directed by Hugo Van Offel, who is also the director of the Netflix series Most Wanted White widow episode.
The film was shot across multiple countries and key locations central to the Red Sanders smuggling trail — Seshachalam forest, Tirupati, Hyderabad, Guntur, Kadapa, Chennai and Javadhu Hills in Tamil Nadu (where several woodcutters originate), as well as France, Interpol Headquarters in Lyon, the Environmental Division of Interpol in Singapore, and Dubai, where we eventually traced the smuggler Sahul Hameed. I was one of the journalists who tracked him for decades, and much of the documentary evidence emerged from these long years of investigation.
This project demanded extensive ground reporting — travelling into remote terrain, climbing inaccessible forest patches, speaking to woodcutters, smugglers, ex-officers, police personnel, and enforcement agencies across states. We also filmed in Chennai while retracing the origins of the network and interviewed Gangi Reddy, one of the key names in the case.
Thank you once again, Pawan Kalyan garu, for recognising this work. I look forward to continued conversations and hope that together we can push for stronger protection, enforcement, and ecological justice for Red Sanders — one of India’s most endangered and vulnerable species.
#RedSandersSmuggling #PlanetKillers #BloodSanders
The documentary Planet Killers presents an extraordinary account of how red sanders trees were felled, illegally transported, and smuggled, leading to the large-scale destruction of the Seshachalam Forest. It exposes the international kingpins behind this mafia, the brutal violence that took place, and the forest martyrs we lost in the process.
The criminals hiding behind political masks in the red sanders network are extremely dangerous to society. By maintaining close ties with smugglers, they turned red sanders smuggling into fuel for their political careers.
My appreciation to the makers for courageously bringing these facts to light and showing the brutal destruction of the Seshachalam Forest and its endangered Red Sanders.
#OperationAranya
https://t.co/EadoVUWL1S
ఎర్రచందన అక్రమ రవాణాని అడ్డుకున్న ప్రజలు
•స్మగ్లర్ల వాహనాన్ని వెంబడించి పట్టుకున్న అప్పినపల్లి గ్రామస్తులు
•అప్పినపల్లి గ్రామస్తుల ధైర్యాన్ని మెచ్చుకున్న ఉపముఖ్యమంత్రి @PawanKalyan
•ఉప ముఖ్యమంత్రి పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ స్ఫూర్తితోనే స్మగ్లర్లను పట్టుకొన్నామన్న ప్రజలు
ఎర్రచందనం అక్రమ రవాణాపై రాష్ట్ర ఉపముఖ్యమంత్రి, అటవీ పర్యావరణ శాఖల మంత్రి పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ తీసుకుంటున్న చర్యలు సత్ఫలితాలనిస్తున్నాయి. ఆయన అందిస్తున్న భరోసా ప్రజల్లో చైతన్యం నింపుతోంది. ఉప ముఖ్యమంత్రి పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ స్ఫూర్తితో చిత్తూరు జిల్లా, అప్పినపల్లి గ్రామస్తులు ఎర్రచందనం దొంగల ఆటకట్టించారు. ఎర్రచందనం అక్రమ రవాణాను అడ్డుకుని దుంగలను అటవీశాఖ అధికారులకు పట్టించారు. అక్రమంగా రవాణా చేస్తున్న 10 ఎర్రచందనం దుంగలను, ఆ గ్రామ ప్రజల సహకారంతో శుక్రవారం ఉదయం అటవీ అధికారులు స్వాధీనం చేసుకున్నారు. ఈ ఆపరేషన్ లో సహకరించిన అప్పినపల్లి గ్రామస్తులను పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ అభినందించారు. ఎర్రచందనం అక్రమ రవాణాను అడ్డుకునేందుకు ఉప ముఖ్యమంత్రి పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ తీసుకుంటున్న చర్యలకు తమవంతు సహకారం అందించాలన్న ఉద్దేశంతోనే దుంగల దొంగల వాహనాన్ని వెంబడించినట్టు అప్పినపల్లి గ్రామస్తులు తెలిపారు.
శుక్రవారం ఉదయం తిరుపతి ఫ్లయింగ్ స్క్వాడ్ పులిచర్ల వద్ద తనిఖీలు నిర్వహిస్తున్న సమయంలో ఒక టవెరా వాహనం అనుమానాస్పదంగా దూసుకువెళ్లింది. అటవీ అధికారులు ఆ వాహనాన్ని వెంబడించగా, వారు బెంగళూరు వైపు వేగంగా వెళ్లిపోయారు. మార్గమధ్యంలో వాహనం నుంచి దూకి ఇద్దరు వ్యక్తులు పరారయ్యారు. వాహనంలో ఉన్న డ్రైవర్ వేగంగా నడుపుకొంటూ ముందుకు వెళ్లాడు. అటవీ శాఖ అధికారులు ఇచ్చిన సమాచారంతో చిత్తూరు జిల్లా, అప్పినపల్లి గ్రామస్తులు ఆ వాహనాన్ని వెంబడించారు. దీంతో డ్రైవర్ కూడా వాహనాన్ని ఒక పక్కన ఆపి పారిపోయాడు. అటవీశాఖ అధికారులు, పోలీసులు ఆ వాహనాన్ని తనిఖీ చేయగా అక్రమంగా 10 ఎర్రచందనం దుంగలు దొరికాయి. సమాచారాన్ని అటవీ అధికారులు ఉపముఖ్యమంత్రి, అటవీ పర్యావరణ శాఖల మంత్రి పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ దృష్టికి తీసుకువచ్చారు. ఎర్ర చందనం దొంగల ఆటకట్టించే క్రమంలో గ్రామస్తులు చూపిన చొరవ, ధైర్యాన్ని పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ మెచ్చుకున్నారు. అటవీశాఖ అధికారులు, పోలీసులను ఉప ముఖ్యమంత్రి పవన్ కళ్యాణ్ అభినందించారు.
Happiest birthday to the power house both on and off screen one n only Power Star and our beloved DCM of AP @PawanKalyan He is synonym of honesty, integrity and transparency. I wish him to go many more miles and achieve the ultimate. @JanaSenaParty@APDeputyCMO#HBDPawanakalyan
@ShlokaEnts This is the worst movie distribution company in US. They cancelled all the shows intentionally on day1 in so many theaters and removes movies from theaters in less than a week especially GC. This sounds more like political to me. Shame on you.
ఏలూరు #వారాహి_విజయ_యాత్ర సభలో @PawanKalyan గారు పేల్చిన బాంబులలో పెద్దవి
*ముఖ్యమంత్రిని ఏకవచనంతో పిలుస్తాను
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*రోడ్డు ప్రమాదంలో 14,230 మరణానికి కారణం
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వైసీపీ మాట్లాడేది కేవలం వాలంటీర్ల గురించి!!