Bengaluru: Cracking two cases of sandalwood smuggling, police recently arrested two men and recovered over 260kg of sandalwood logs, worth Rs 20 lakh from them. The cases were reported from Jnanabharati (university campus) and Subramanyapura. In one of the cases, a phone left behind by the suspect helped cops trace him.
In the Jnanabharati case, police arrested Sakaiah alias Saka, 33, from Iruligara Doddi in Ramanagara and recovered 115 kg of sandalwood logs from him. Police records show that Sakaiah was arrested in 2015 for axing a sandalwood sapling in the same place (university campus-Jnanabharati) and in 2017 in Bellandur, for cutting a fully grown tree. "Recently, the watchman at the university heard sounds of tree chopping at midnight and on rushing to the spot, came across Sakaiah and three others. They fled the scene, leaving behind a mobile phone and it took us to Sakaiah. Three of his associates are at large," an investigating officer said.
In the second case, police arrested 26-year-old KV Sharath from Piriyapatna after recovering 146kg of sandalwood logs from him. A truck driver by profession, Sharath had come to city in a mini-goods truck, filled with logs to sell them, police said.