Sandalwood tree stolen from AIR campus near Raj Bhavan

Thieves stole a 5.9-foot sandalwood tree from the Prasar Bharati All India Radio premises close to Raj Bhavan in Central Bengaluru, a high-security zone, on the night of October 29.

AIR staff found the missing tree the following morning when they came to work.

In his complaint to the Vidhana Soudha police station, Prasar Bharati All India Radio Assistant Director (E) M R Sahadevan said the theft happened in the intervening night of October 29 and 30.

The theft has once again revealed the police's lackadaisical attitude towards the high-security zone and the assumption that thieves would never commit crimes here.

Though the AIR administration deployed private security, they could not stop the crime from happening. The police suspect that the accused, who were more than three in number, entered the premises, felled the tree and carried it away. They are verifying CCTV footage to identify the culprits.

A day before the theft, 32-year-old Sultan Rahman, a private firm employee, trespassed into the high-security Raj Bhavan premises from the rear gate near the Legislators' Home. Balakrishna, a reserve sub-inspector, and other personnel posted for security duty chased and caught Rahman and handed him over to the Vidhana Soudha police.

Sandalwood trees have also been stolen earlier at Seven Minister's quarters in High Grounds. Recently, a similar tree theft happened in the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) in Sadashivanagar.