BENGALURU: The state forest department officials are on the hunt for a gang that reduced 25 sandalwood trees, which were 4-5 years old, to mere stumps during a late night theft at the Gottiupura state forest in Hoskote.
The incident occurred four days ago, and special teams have been formed to protect the forest patch, from where the trees were removed, and to find the culprits. The incident has put the ground staff on high alert to protect the sandalwood trees in the forests of Karnataka.
According to forest department officials, the Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) is growing 1,000-1,500 sandalwood trees at a special patch in Gottiupura forresearch. Officials admitted that the area was notadequately protected initially as it is fenced and situated inside the forest.The police are investigating the case, while forest department sleuths too are working parallelly to identify and nab the poachers.
A senior forest official said, “We suspect a big gang is involved in the incident as 25 trees have been axed. They must have surveyed the area and decided on the time of crime. While axing of even one or two trees is reported, this is the first time in the recent past that such a large number of trees have been cut. More teams have been deployed for security and patrolling at Gottipura and all the 70 forest blocks in Bengaluru Rural to protect sandalwood trees.” Sandalwood is the state tree of Karnataka and in the last state budget, the government announced a special programme for plantation and protection of the species.