BENGALURU: Nearly arly 1,693 kg of red sanders worth Rs 2.68 crore that was illegally stored at a farmhouse in Hesaraghatta has been seized by the west division police. The police initially picked up a 31-year-old man who was appointed to look after the farmhouse when he had come along with his associate with samples of the red sanders to sell it to some prospective buyer at Timber Yard Layout near the satellite bus stand in Byatarayanapura. The other person had managed to escape. Based on his information, the police raided the farm house and seized the red sanders.
The police arrested four more persons from Nelamangala who also had a few samples of red sanders. The police have written to the jurisdictional revenue inspector seeking ownership details of the farmhouse as they were unable to find out the details of the exact owner. Suspecting that the red sanders would have been illegally transported from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the police are also writing to the police there seeking their coordination to find out the kingpin and the possible smuggling route. The accused are R Vinod, a resident of Kamakshipalya.
He was arrested on Friday morning. His associate Ajay, a resident of T Dasarahalli had managed to escape. Based on Vinod’s information, the police arrested Lakshmaiah, Sanjay, Raju and Krishna from Nelamangala area on Sunday afternoon. “Vinod and Ajay had come on a bike with the samples of around 17 kg of red sanders. None of the five arrested are part of the bigger racket. They are all small fish and do not know about the smuggling. The red sanders is said to have been 40 to 50 years old,” said the police. Two bikes have also been seized from the accused. The Byatarayanapura police have registered a case.