Bengaluru Police carried out a major crackdown on red sandalwood smuggling, arresting five people and seizing over 1.8 tonnes of the prohibited wood in two separate operations.
In the first case, Hulimavu Police arrested two accused after intercepting three vehicles and recovering 1,150 kg of red sandalwood, valued at Rs 60 lakh. The consignment was allegedly being transported to Tamil Nadu and had been concealed under the rear seat of a car.
In a separate operation, RT Nagar Police arrested two more smugglers, Varaprasad Reddy and Raj Shekhar, and seized 739 kg of red sandalwood worth Rs 75 lakh from a Bolero vehicle. The duo, from Andhra Pradesh’s Annamayya district, had allegedly brought the wood from Sundapalli and entered Bengaluru by illegally crossing multiple check posts.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said “The operations were carried out by teams from the Electronic City Division and the North Division, under the Hulimavu and RT Nagar police station limits.”
“In total, five accused have been arrested Four vehicles have also been seized,” he said.
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