IDUKKI: In a major turning point in the constant efforts by the district Forest Department to tie the noose around sandalwood smugglers functioning in Marayur, the largest natural sandalwood forest area in Kerala, a team of forest officials lead by Munnar DFO Narendra Babu on Monday seized sandalwood worth R1 crore from a factory at Bomma Samudram, a village located in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, which was smuggled from Marayur.
The officials seized sandalwood weighing 720 kg comprising 300 kg sandalwood powder and 400 kg of sandal chips in the raid at the factory, which is owned by a Kozhikode native.
However, the police could not nab any culprits from the factory as the workers fled the place. According to Forest Department authorities, the raid was conducted based on the tip-off provided by Shuhaib alias Kunjippu, a resident of Pullara near Pookkottur in Malappuram, who was arrested by the forest officials on June 12 in connection with the case.
Shuhaib has been supplying sandalwood looted from the reserve forest and surrounding areas, with the help of other team members and local people, to the factory for the past five years.Shuhaib, who was remanded to the sub jail in Devikulam, was taken back into custody by the forest officials on Saturday for evidence collection. From him, they came to know about the factory at Chittoor.
On Sunday morning, with special permission from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the 25 member-team comprising Munnar DFO Narendra Babu, Marayur DFO (sandalwood division) B Renjith and Marayur range officer Job J Nerimparambil headed to Andhra Pradesh. Shuhaib was also taken along with them.
However, the forest officials said as the culprits came to know about the arrest of Shuhaib, they shifted more than half of the sandalwood stored in the factory.As many as 10 forest officials under the leadership of Chittoor DFO Jaganath Singh and 10 police officials also came to help the Kerala team to conduct the raid. The factory and the godown, which were functioning illegally, have been sealed.
The journey from Marayur till Bomma Samudram
Since the formation of the Marayur Sandalwood Division, this is for the first time the Forest Department had extended its probe for smugglers outside the state.According to the officials, they got information about the smugglers operating from Malappuram from the statement given by the three accused, who were held in connection with looting sandalwood from Ambalappara in the Nachivayal area of Marayur reserve forest.
Based on the information, the officials caught Saifudheen alias Shiju, 26, of Mannolil house, Pulpatta, in Malappuram and Madusoodhanan, 33, of Korikandam, Urudoor in Kasaragod, while they were trying to smuggle 65 kg sandalwood in a car at Valara near Adimali on March 11. The police came to know about the involvement of Shuhaib after they checked the mobile phones of the accused persons from Malappuram.The forest officials also nabbed six local residents, including three women, for supplying sandalwood to the smugglers.
Kerala officials stopped from taking sandalwood
Idukki: Andhra Pradesh forest officials, on Monday, stopped Kerala officials from bringing the 72 kg of sandalwood worth rupees 1 crore seized from an unauthorized factory to Kerala. The sandalwood seized from Bomma Samudram near Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh had been smuggled from the Marayur reserve. The Chittor DFO and the range officer did not allow Kerala forest officials to take the sandal woods back despite producing the permission order of the higher officials and the raid order from the court. The Kerala forest officials had raided the factory based on the information given by the accused Shuhaib, who was involved in supplying sandalwood to the factory. Kerala officials contend that the AP forest officials were acting against law so as to protect the sandal mafia. The officials under Munnar DFO Narendra Babu has been discussing with Chittoor DFO.The officials say that the mafia can be punished only if the sandalwood is brought back to Kerala.