Paralakhemundi: Two individuals had been arrested on Sunday on the fees of smuggling Red Sandalwood in Gajapati district. The accused had been transporting 150 Kilograms (three logs) of Red Sandalwood logs in an auto-rickshaw.
Acting on a tip-off, a staff of forest division of Mahendra and Devgiri forest vary performed a raid and intercepted the auto-rickshaw.
“We had intercepted the auto-rickshaw near Banjerichhak and recovered three logs of Red Sandalwood weighing 150 kgs,” mentioned Gauri Prasad Rath, a senior forest official.
According to Rath, each the accused are being interrogated to establish the supply of procurement and provide route.
On December 4, 2020, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Crime Branch had arrested three sandalwood smugglers and seized an enormous amount of the fragrant timber of over Rs 70 lakh from their possession in Tangi space of Cuttack district.
The accused had been recognized as HemantaChatois and KanhuChanranBhoi of Tangi space and Dandapani Das of Khandapada space in Nayagarh district.
Similarly, three individuals together with two from Odisha had been arrested by Andhra Pradesh in August 2019 for his or her alleged involvement in smuggling of pink sandalwood.
A senior officer of Melliaputti Police Station, Andhra Pradesh had knowledgeable that over 200 kg of pink sandalwood was being illegally smuggled in a automotive en path to Vizag from Paralakhemundi of Gajapati district when the automobile was intercepted.
(Edited By Ramakant Biswas)
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