Bengaluru Police bust sandalwood smuggling rings, arrest two

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police have arrested two people involved in sandalwood smuggling in separate cases on Friday.

In the first case, the Subramanyapura police intercepted a truck on November 5 near Uttarahalli, South Bengaluru, based on a tip-off about illegal sandalwood transportation. Officers seized 146 kg of sandalwood cut into 300 pieces, valued at Rs 14.6 lakh, and arrested Sharath, 26, a resident of Piriyapatna in Mysuru district.

Sharath was allegedly delivering the sandalwood to Chetan, another suspect in the case. Investigations revealed that the prime accused, Yogesh, had loaded the sandalwood in Siddapura, Kodagu, and sent it to Bengaluru.

Police said efforts are underway to arrest Yogesh and Chetan. “We have collected details of the two suspects and launched a manhunt,” an investigator told DH.

Second case

In the second case, the Jnanabharathi police arrested Sakayya alias Saka, 28, from Ramanagara for his involvement in a gang attempting to steal sandalwood trees from the Jnanabharathi campus.

On November 14, a security officer filed a complaint reporting that a group was axing sandalwood trees on campus, but fled when confronted. A mobile phone left at the scene led police to Saka, who was arrested on December 4 near Iruligaradoddi, Ramanagara. He is now in judicial custody, while the police search for his accomplices.

QR codes for seizure records

The Bengaluru police have introduced QR codes to streamline their seizure documentation. Details of each seizure will be stored on an internal server, with a QR code generated for easy access and tracking.