'Pushpa: The Rise' is believed to have inspired a truck driver in Bengaluru to smuggle red sanders. His name is Yasin Inayithulla. The driver was yesterday caught smuggling red sanders in his truck.

Going into details, the smuggler was en route from the Karnataka-Andhra border to Maharashtra. A report by Republic TV says, "When he crossed the border, Maharashtra police in Gandhi Chowk of Meeraj Nagar in Sangli district nabbed him. Subsequently, the police seized the sandalwood worth Rs 2.45 crore along with his truck worth Rs 10 lakh."

Sagay Raj P, a journalist, reported, "The smuggler loaded his truck with red sandalwood and on top of that he loaded with fruits and vegetable boxes."

An investigation is currently on to ascertain whether he is part of some network.

The idea of using a milk van to smuggle red sanders, as shown in 'Pushpa', was reportedly used by a real-life smuggler. It's like the Allu Arjun-Sukumar movie popularized the idea although it didn't originate the modus operandi.

A smuggler who was inspired after watching movie #Pushpa, tried 2 smuggle red sandalwood worth 2.45cr in movie style. Smuggler Yasin Inayithulla loaded truck wit red sandalwood & on top of tat he loaded wit fruits & vegetable boxes. He was arrested by @MahaPolice near Sangli pic.twitter.com/fsOqRlzGFF

— Sagay Raj P || ಸಗಾಯ್ ರಾಜ್ ಪಿ (@sagayrajp) February 2, 2022