Three arrested; sandalwood logs seized in Vellore, Tirupattur

Three tribal persons arrested for smuggling sandalwood logs, with a total of 89 logs seized by the police.

Three tribal persons, including a woman, were arrested by the police in Tirupattur on Sunday on charges of smuggling sandalwood logs.

The police also seized 89 sandalwood logs weighing 588.41 kg in Vellore and 52 wood pieces (13.5 kg) in Tirupattur. Arrested persons have been identified as S. Kaliappan, 56, a mason, his wife K. Periyapappa, 49, and their relative K. Manickam, 55. All are residents of Irular Colony in Krishnagiri district. They were returning from a construction site in Bengaluru to their relative’s house near Tirupattur town.

As they were walking towards their relative’s house near the checkpost in Venkatapuram, Tirupattur taluk police checked their belongings and found 52 small pieces of sandalwood in their bags. As they gave different versions, they were arrested.

At Vellore, a Prohibition Enforcement Wing (PEW) police team of Odugathur police seized 588.41 kg of sandalwood logs that were being smuggled in a mini-van by two persons, who were on the run, near Melarasanpattu reserve forest (RF) in Anaicut region along Jawadhu Hills.

Officials of Odugathur forest range, which comprises 10 RFs covering at least 25,000 hectares at the foothills, said around 3 a.m the PEW team were checking vehicles on the muddy stretch between Peechamanthai and Muthukumaramalai, tribal villages in the hills, when they stopped the mini-van but two occupants fled the spot, leaving behind the vehicle.

The police found sandalwood logs hidden under plastic wastes. The seized logs were handed over to Odugathur forest range officials. Forest officials said that the seized wood was sapwood (an inferior variety of sandalwood), which was mostly used to extract oil. “The seized wooden logs were not fresh ones. They were soaked in water for a long time to gain weight to sell for higher prices. Special teams were formed to nab the suspects,” S. Indu, forest range officer (Odugathur), told The Hindu.

At present, Odugathur forest range has around 7,500 sandalwood trees and 6,000 red sanders, covering 25 hectares each. Most of the red sanders were planted in Sanakuppam RF during the 1970s whereas sandalwood trees were planted in Melarasanpattu RF during 2016-17. Unlike teak and eucalyptus, these trees have a long rotation period of 10-20 years for maturity to sell in international markets, forest officials said.