Rs 5 crore worth red sandalwood seized in Karnataka

Bengaluru, Oct 12: The police have seized red sandalwood worth Rs 5 crore from Doddaballapur in Karnataka. The police also arrested Mohhammad Altaf Hussain alias Irani Althaf (36) who was wanted in several cases pertaining to red sandalwood smuggling.

The operation carried out by the Chittoor Task Force police late on Sunday night led to the seizure of Grade-A red sandalwood at Kadanur village in Doddaballapur.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Red Sanders Operations) Ratna Y informed that they had been on the lookout for Hussain for sometime now. He was wanted in several cases and is a resident of Madanapalle in Chittoor. The arrest of Hussain will give the police vital clues about Sharrif who is an international smuggler of red sandalwood.

Further the police also hope to unearth further links between the smugglers operating out of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Hussain a graduate has been into red sandalwood smuggling since 2010.

During the raid the police found that the red sandalwood which were looted from the Andhra Pradesh forests was stored in a farmhouse belonging to one Munna. The red sandalwood weighed 3 tonnes and is valued at Rs 5 crore.

In another operation the police have arrested two more smugglers Arul and Sarvanan from Bangarupalem near Chittoor. Both these smugglers hail from the Kilamattur village, Krishnagiri District in Tamil Nadu.

OneIndia News