450 sandalwood logs worth Rs 6 crore seized in Manor

Forest department officials in Palghar and the Manor police on Sunday morning seized 450 sandalwood logs reportedly worth around `6 crore from a godown at Takwahal village, Manor. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has taken in the godown’s owner, Asif Mohammed Amin Shaikh, for questioning.

The officials were acting on a tip received the previous night by the DRI, after the agency had seized a container at Nhava Sheva. While questioning the driver, DRI officials had learnt that a sizeable number of sandalwood logs were stacked in a godown at Takwahal.

The officials then immediately informed API, Manoj Chalke, Manor and S.P. Mangdhare, range forest officer (RFO), Manor who conducted a joint raid on the godown. “We informed the DRI and on Sunday a team arrived at the site and took away Shaikh, who had leased the premises to one Pandey, who is absconding, said Mr Mangdhare. The godown was earlier used to store hay for the dairy industry,” said the official.

The DRI has also asked for the Leave and Licence agreement between Shaikh and Pandey among other documents, said the RFO. “At last count, we seized around high-quality 450 sandalwood logs and are priced at around Rs 6 crore in the market,” said Mr Mangdhare. “The logs are now at Netali, where our forest department godown is located, and we will hand them over to the DRI officials after their arrival,” said Mr Mangdhare.

In December 2014, two Ghatkopar wood traders, Vikas Jaiswal and Kunj Balkrishna Doshi, were arrested by the forest department, Dahanu division, for smuggling 17 kilograms of sandalwood worth Rs 20,000 at a checkpost in Zai village, near Dahanu, which borders Gujarat, last Monday. Both have been produced before the Dahanu court and have been released on bail. The logs were “samples” and were being taken to Ahmedabad where a deal was to be cracked for the sale of the logs.

Also, four months ago, the forest department had arrested sandalwood smugglers at Wada and Jawhar, both the arrests were made under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.