Four arrested in connection with red sandalwood smuggling in New Delhi

New Delhi: Four people were arrested for allegedly smuggling red sandalwood from southern states to other parts of India and abroad, police said on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, police laid a trap near Ashram Chowk on September 28 and intercepted a truck carrying huge quantity of red sandalwood at 9 pm, they said. Krishan (27), Ravinder (24), Neeraj Sehgal (38) and Nikhil Salwan were arrested and 133 red sandalwood logs, valued around Rs 1.40 crore in domestic market, were seized from the truck, Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) G Ram Gopal Naik said.

The total weight of the logs was found to be around 4,580 kg and a wildlife inspector, who was called on the spot, identified those as red Sanders, he said.

During interrogation, the accused told police that they used to load trucks with red sandalwood from a transpiration centre in Bengaluru and to conceal it, they used to put incense sticks to suppress the smell, the officer said.

From Bengaluru, the sandalwoods were smuggled to national capital region for storage, Naik said.

Krishan have been driving the truck for the last two years, and Ravinder, the owner of the vehicle, used to get Rs 40,000 per ton for the transporting the consignment, the DCP said.