The Forest Department on Tuesday seized 855 kg of sandalwood from a house in Kasaragod, thanks to an alert District Collector and his team.
Sandalwood worth over ₹2 crore was stored in a house adjoining the residence of District Collector D. Sajith Babu. The residences of the District Police Chief and the district judge are also in the vicinity.
The Collector’s gunman and driver alerted him on hearing a noise from the house in the early hours. Mr. Babu, along with his gunman Dileesh Kumar and driver Sreejith Poduval, inspected the spot around 4.30 a.m. and found sacks containing sandalwood. The Forest Department later seized 34 sacks containing 855 kg of sandalwood from the house.
Mr. Babu said three persons trying to load the sacks onto a truck ran away on seeing them.
He said the truck and two cars used for smuggling were seized.
The house from which the sandalwood was seized belonged to one Abdul Qadir of Nayanmarmoola, Vidyanagar. He is said to have gone into hiding.