Police kill 20 suspected sandalwood smugglers in south India

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Police killed 20 suspected sandalwood smugglers during a fierce gun battle Tuesday in the southern Indian forests of Andhra Pradesh state.

M. Kantha Rao, deputy inspector general of a special police task force, said the smugglers attacked forest and police officials as they were searching for 200 smugglers believed to have been cutting down trees overnight near the Hindu pilgrimage town of Tirupati.

The smugglers attacked the officials "with axes and other sharp-edged weapons, forcing the police to open fire" in self-defense, Rao said.

Sandalwood smuggling is rampant in southern India, with one ton going for up to $80,000 on the black market thanks to high demand in countries such as China and Japan.