GURGAON: Around 15 tonnes of red sanders, worth nearly Rs 6 crore, were seized from a warehouse in Manesar on Saturday. Police said they have arrested two men, who were involved in making handicraft items of sandalwood and sending them to China. Four tonnes of wood dust, five machines used for manufacturing the handicraft items, and an i10 car have also been seized.
Those arrested have been identified as Tenji Sharma and Safal Rasaili, both natives of West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, who were staying in Delhi’s Gandhi Vihar. The owner of the warehouse has been identified as Delhi’s Green Park resident Tanjig Narbu, a native of the Northeast. An FIR has been lodged against the trio under relevant sections of the IPC and the Indian Forest Act, and a manhunt launched to nab Narbu.
Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of Gurgaon Police and the forest department raided the warehouse of a closed factory, located on plot number 132 in Sector 5 of Manesar.
“This was one of the biggest seizures in recent times. Normally we seize around 30 to 40 tonnes of red sandalwood in a year,” said range forest officer Narendra Kumar.
He added, “The gang was in the process of shifting their base and have already moved out many things. Still we managed to seized a huge quantity of wood logs, wood powder, various machines and vehicles.”
According to police, the seized red sandalwood is worth Rs 6 crore in the international market. “On being interrogated, the accused told us that the owner of the warehouse lives in Delhi, and he is the kingpin of their smuggling gang. We are conducting raids to nab the main accused, who will be arrested soon. The arrested accused are around 30 years of age,” said inspector Mahender Verma, in-charge of crime unit, Palam Vihar.
Red sanders is a rare and and precious wood found only in India. It naturally grows only in the Seshachalam hill ranges in the Kadapa, Chittoor and Nellore districts on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Red sandalwood is prohibited goods under the Customs Act, 1962.
But the current seizure of red sanders only testifies the fact that Gurgaon is fast becoming a hub for sandalwood smuggling trade. Around 2,700 kg of red sanders, worth nearly Rs 4 crore, were seized from a mini-truck on Jharsa Chowk flyover in May this year.
According to forest officials, red sandalwood is smuggled into Delhi/NCR in cargo trucks from AP. The wood costs Rs 2,000-5,000 a kg and the price shoots up to a lakh in China. District forest officer of Gurgaon, Vasvi Tyagi, said it is a valuable component in traditional medicines (aphrodisiac) and woodcraft across China, Myanmar and Japan.
