JOIN USForest department personnel arrested two persons and seized rosewood worth Rs 30 lakh, being illegally transported in Siddapura, on Tuesday.
The arrested are Irshad, a lorry driver from Siddapura and Mani from Injilagere.
The wood was concealed in the lorry loaded with bags containing coffee and paddy husks.
Based on credible information, the forest department personnel stopped the lorry in Rasalpura village, coming from Siddapura, at 2 pm.
During an inspection, 24 rosewood logs were found in the vehicle.
The raid was carried out under the guidance of Madikeri DCF S Prabhakaran and Somwarpet Sub Division ACF K A Nehru.
Kushalnagar RFO J Ananya Kumar led the raid team comprising DRFO K P Ranjan, Anil D’Souza, K N Devaiah, K S Subraya, forest guards Ananda Ramappa Malugunda, Siddarama Natikara, vehicle driver K D Vasu, elephant mahout Manju and RRT personnel Shanta, Pradeep, Sunil, Ramesh and Ashok.