Delhi Police have arrested two persons for smuggling 487 kg of white sandalwood worth Rs 1.25 crore from the Kotwali area on Wednesday. The two accused persons have been identified as Birbal Yadav and Jitender Yadav. According to the police, based on a tip-off, they laid a trap opposite the Old Delhi Railway station exit gate in the Kotwali area and arrested the two persons while a Chinese national Chen XI Gui with whom they came to smuggle, managed to escape from the spot. On their instance, police found 487 kg of white sandalwood worth Rs 1.25 crore which was recovered from the Baljeet Nagar area of Patel Nagar. “The duo revealed the name of the Chinese national involved in the smuggling and told that the sandalwood was smuggled to Delhi via Himachal Pradesh. Raids have been conducted at several places such as East House, Aruna Nagar Colony, Majnu Ka Tilla to nab the Chinese smuggler but he is still on the run,” said a senior police official.
Police said that they have obtained copies of the passports of the Chinese national from the hotel he was staying at. A case has been registered against the accused persons at the Kotwali police station under Sections 379, 411 and 34 of the IPC and appropriate sections of the Indian Forest Act. Further investigation is underway.