The Andhra Pradesh police have arrested 63 woodcutters smuggling red sanders trees from the state's Nellore district, on the border with Tamil Nadu.

According to reports, the authorities arrested the suspects during combing operations in the Marripadu and Veligonda forest areas, with 40 logs of red sanders wood worth Rs one crore seized from their possession.

The arrested woodcutters are suspected to be part of the group allegedly involved in the felling of red sanders trees in the Seshachalam hill ranges of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh on April 7, who killed in an encounter with the state police.