A 41-year-old man has been arrested from Asola village here for allegedly supplying fine-quality red sandalwood, the police said on Wednesday.
Accused Amit Verma is a resident of Darjeeling in West Bengal. A total of 571.4 kg sandalwood worth ₹2 crore in the international market was seized from him.
The police were informed on Monday that a person had taken a godown on rent in Asola village where he had kept some illegal red sandalwood, officers said.
“A trap was laid and the accused was arrested on Monday around 7 p.m. Eight logs of red sandalwood were seized from the godown which were concealed under heap of clothes,” Ram Gopal Naik, DCP (Crime), said. A wildlife inspector, who was called by the police, identified the logs as Red Sanders (Pterocarpus Santalinus) and said they are of superior quality, the DCP added.
During interrogation, Amit said he, along with his accomplice, had been smuggling the red sandalwood from Karnataka in trucks concealing those under heap of clothes, Mr. Naik said.
The main receivers of the sandalwood in Delhi-NCR hail from Nepal.
The receivers would thn smuggle the sandalwoods to China and other countries, the DCP said, adding that they were trying to nab the other accused.
