Sandalwood theft: Four arrested

The Chamarajpet police arrested four persons transporting sandalwood in gunny bags and seized 130 kg sandalwood worth Rs 7.61 lakh on Wednesday. The accused have been identified as Chan Pasha, 31, a resident of Magadi Road, Syed Muktiyar, 35, Shakkir, 30, both residents of D J Halli and Imran Sharee, 28, of Hoskote.

Acting on a tip-off that some personswere transporting stolen sandalwood in gunny bags, the police arrested them near Kudure Park on Mysore Road. The police took them into custody and seized the vehicle and sandalwood. The gang members revealed that they used cut sandalwood trees and steal them from houses in Shankarapuram, Banashankari, J C Nagar and Sanjaynagar. The police said recently the gang had cut sandalwood tree at one B P Alan Karinarayan’s house in Shankarapuram. When questioned, they revealed that they were going to Mysore to sell the sandalwood.

“We checked all the suspected vehicles. After arresting the gang, we did not want to delay the process. Hence, we immediately booked a case against them,” said M A Hussain, ACP.