Three individuals were arrested in Gujarat’s Patan district on Friday with four tonnes of red sanders valued at Rs 2.5 crore.
On a tip from Andhra Pradesh’s Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force, Patan Deputy Superintendent of Police KK Pandya disclosed that Pareshji Thakor, Hansraj Joshi of Mehsana and Uttam Soni of Deesa town in Banaskantha district were apprehended.
Speaking to a section of media, he said, “They had acquired 155 red sanders logs worth Rs 2.5 crore from Andhra Pradesh-based smugglers. These were recovered in a raid on a godown in Hajipur village here. The red sanders was supposed to be smuggled further to China and some South-East Asian nations where it is used in medicines and fetches a high price. Recently, an FIR was registered at Tirupati police station in AP about red sandalwood theft.”
According to a police release from Patan, the three accused obtained the red sandalwood logs from Charamthe Venkat Raju of Mandapalli village in Andhra Pradesh around three months ago. They then transported them to Patan in a truck while hiding them behind vegetables.
“Those held in Andhra Pradesh told police about the logs being taken to Patan. Based on the information shared by the Task Force in Andhra Pradesh, we raided the godown today,” he added.
The logs came from the southern state’s Sundupalli-Sanipaya forest region, according to the release.
The three were taken into arrest by MD Sharif, Superintendent of Police for the Andhra Pradesh Task Force. Sharif informed reporters that upon their production at a local court here, they would be sent to Andhra Pradesh.
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