Red sanders recovered, one held

 Central Crime Branch police raided a ghee godown in Byatarayanapura on Wednesday and recovered 26 pieces of red sanders weighing 940 kg worth Rs 28.20 lakh.

The police arrested the godown owner for illegally storing and transporting red sanders. The suspect has been identified as Varun Kumar, 32, a resident of 6th cross, near Saibaba Temple, Timber Layout, Byatarayanapura.

On a tip-off, the police raided Varun Kumar’s ghee godown where he had illegally stored the red sanders. The police also recovered several tins that contained adulterated ghee valued at Rs 1.25 lakh.

Varun Kumar and his friend Ramesh were into illegal transportation of red sanders for the last six months. They had not taken permission to chop, transport and store red sanders. They had stolen the pieces from elsewhere and stored them in Varun’s ghee godown. They were selling the pieces for higher price.

During the raid, Varun was also found to be selling adulterated ghee. He would mix oil and dalda to a small quantity of ghee and then stick labels such as Sri Krishna Ghee and Anjali Ghee and would sell them, said the police. Ramesh is absconding.