Truck with smuggled red sanders worth ₹4 crore seized, four arrested

NEWDELHI: An interior decorator, a transporter, and a truck driver were among four people arrested on Friday by the Delhi Police’s crime branch for running a red sanders smuggling syndicate. Police said more than 4,500kg red sandalwood worth nearly ₹4.2 crore in the international market was recovered.

Police suspect the gang was transporting red sandalwood to their contacts in China. The smugglers would also carry cartons of incense sticks in the truck to mask the smell of sandalwood and avoid suspicion, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) G Ram Gopal Naik said that the sandalwood was loaded into trucks in Bangalore and was received at godowns in Noida and Delhi.

Police identified the main accused as 38-year-old Neeraj Sahgal, a high school dropout who was an interior decorator. Officials said Sahgal arranged potential buyers for the smuggled sandalwood in the international as well as local markets. Sahgal’s cousin, who has earlier arrested in a different sandalwood smug- gling case, had lured him into the trade, police said.

The other two arrested were identified as 27-year-old truck driver Krishan and 24-year-old Ravinder, the owner of the truck.

A total of 133 logs of red sandalwood weighing around 4,580 kg were recovered, police said. Ravinder had been involved in the smuggling ring for the past year and used to get ₹40,000 for transporting every ton of the sandalwood, DCP Naik said.

Additional commissioner of police (crime) Rajiv Ranjan said the recovery was made following an input that a truck illegally transporting sandalwood would pass via Ring Road. “A police team raided the identified spot and the truck was intercepted. 133 logs were recovered from the truck which was hidden behind the cartons of incense sticks to mask their smell. A wildlife officer was called on the spot and he ascertained that these logs are red sanders, another name for red sandalwood,” Ranjan said.

The three men who were in the truck were arrested from the spot, the officer said, adding that in the trio’s instance, one Nikhil Salwan, also a part of the syndicate, was arrested on Saturday.