New Delhi: The investigation in the Red Sandalwood Smuggling racket, which was busted by Crime Branch of Delhi, revealed that the accused had links in three different South Indian states from where it is suspected that they got sandalwood which was further sold to the markets in the Central part of the country.
Police claimed that they may write to forest departments seeking details regarding the case.
Police arrested three persons on September 28 near Ring Road. The accused were hiding in a truck, which was searched leading to the recovery of more than 133 logs of red sandalwood which were concealed behind the cartons of incense sticks.
To identify the recovered logs, a wildlife inspector was called on the spot, who identified the recovered logs as red sanders (Pterocarpus Santalinus).
According to investigators, the gang has been active for several years and there are few leads which suggest that they have supplied the sandalwoods from the forested areas situated in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
"We want to know how they were able to get sandalwoods from there," said the investigator. "We can write to the forest department of three states regarding the incident and seek further details in the case," added the investigator.
Meanwhile, teams have been sent to Northern and Southern India. The accused had also sold sandalwood in the markets of Uttar Pradesh.
"The next day after the arrest we busted a godown in Noida and so far we have recovered more than eight tonnes of sandalwood," said a senior police officer. The arrest was made by Special Task Force (STF) from Crime Branch led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) G Ram Gopal Naik.
In a Press statement, Delhi Police claimed that the accused loaded the trucks with Red Sandalwood at a transportation centre in Bangalore.