Red sanders worth Rs 5 crore seized in Tirupur, six held

The police seized tonnes of red sandalwood worth Rs 5 crores from Tirupur in Coimbatore. The police earlier caught a truck filled with red sanders hidden below vegetable load and arrested the driver. The driver provided further lead in the case.

Coimbatore:Over 11 tonnes of red sanders worth Rs five crore was seized from a truck and a godown in nearby Tirupur, and six people were arrested in this connection.

"Acting on a tip-off, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials here, carried out a raid at a private godown near Tirupur on the intervening night of August 1 and 2 and seized 11.4 tonnes of red sanders," an official release said.

"The documents seized during the raid suggested the red sander logs were kept ready to be smuggled out of India," it said.

The officials first intercepted a truck carrying the red sanders, weighing two tonnes under vegetable load and took the driver into custody.

Based on his confession, officials raided the godown and seized 9.4 tonnes of red sanders, concealed along with some articles meant for exports.

Police arrested six people in this connection.

The truck and two cars from the accused were also seized and further investigations are on.

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