The Forest Department on Sunday seized 500 kg of red sanders worth around ₹20 lakh from an abandoned car at a police check post in Paradarami village near Gudiyatham on Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border in Vellore.

Forest officials said that a team was patrolling the Paradarami reserve forest when they saw a speeding car on the border. In an attempt to flee, the car sped and slipped into an open land at an isolated spot near Gudiyatham town. Two unidentified persons in the car were injured, and three others fled the spot.

Forest officials and police personnel rescued injured persons and admitted them to Government Taluk Hospital in Gudiyatham. Police found four wooden logs of red sanders that weighed around 500 kgs. Special teams were formed to nab trace the other suspects. Seized wooden logs were sent to the government incense sticks making unit in Tirupattur. A probe is under way.