Spurt in sandalwood smuggling

Twenty-nine cases of sandalwood smuggling were reported in the City this year. In order to prevent such cases, raids had been conducted at a few villages on the outskirts of the City, which were the main centres of this crime, writes K.V.SUBRAMANYA.

THERE HAS been a spurt in the number of sandalwood theft cases reported in the City in the first four months of 2001 compared to last year.

While 36 cases were reported in the previous year, 29 were reported from January to April this year.

What is disturbing is that majority of the cases reported this year have taken place on the premises of Government offices, which have become soft targets of sandalwood smugglers.

For instance, sandalwood trees on the premises of Aranya Bhavan, the headquarters of the State Forest Department, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), the Jnana Bharathi campus, and the Indian Statistics Institute in Kengeri were cut and taken away by smugglers. In 1998, a sandalwood tree was felled and taken away from the residence of the then Minister for Cooperation Minister, Mr. S.S.Patil, in High Grounds Police Station limits.

Police said in order to prevent such cases, raids had been conducted at Medimallasandra, Kattigehalli and Adigarakallahali on the outskirts of the City, which were the main centres for sandalwood smuggling. Apart from arresting a few persons, several vehicles, which were used for transporting sandalwood, had been seized.

The raids revealed that the accused involved in most of the cases reported in the City were from these villages. Two persons from one of these villages were shot dead by police at Malleswaram in 1999 when they were attempting to steal sandalwood, police said.

The City Police Commissioner, Mr. T.Madiyal, said there were sandalwood trees all over the City, and it was not possible for the police to keep vigil everywhere. However, preventive measures had been taken to check sandalwood theft in the City.

Explaining the reasons for the increase in the number of sandalwood theft cases, he said though some new gangs had started operating in the City, the police were after the known criminals. A gang from Bhadravati was caught by the Sadashivanagar police. A man from Hindupur taluk in Andhra Pradesh was arrested when he was cutting a sandalwood tree on the IISc premises.

Mr. Madiyal said the number of sandalwood theft cases reported also included the attempts made and sandalwood seized while being transported. ``All cases do not pertain to cutting the trees,'' he added.

Referring to sandalwood trees being cut and taken away from the premises of Government offices, Mr. Madiyal said the officials of the respective departments should take care of their property. The number of sandalwood theft cases would come down in the City as preventive steps had been taken, he added.

Agreeing with Mr. Madiyal's views, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), Mr. S.K.Venugopal, said sandalwood theft cases had come down after raids were conducted at Medimallasandra and other villages on the outskirts of the City.

He said sandalwood theft on the premises of Government offices could be prevented if the security staff there were given proper training.

A few police officers said that the Bangalore District Police should keep a strict vigil on Medimallasandra, Kattigehalli and Adigarakallahalli villages under its jurisdiction to check sandalwood smuggling.

However, given the limited resources, it would be difficult to search each house in these villages and keep a vigil on the movements of the villagers, said a police officer attached to the Bangalore District Police.

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