Two staffers of Nehru Zoological Park and their associate were arrested by the police on Friday for stealing sandalwood from the zoo premises.
Sandalwood logs and other material worth about Rs.50,000 were recovered from Boini Raju (22) of Srikrishna Nagar in Serilingampally and M.G. Srinivas (31) of Kalapather, both working as assistant animal keepers in the zoo on contract basis for the past seven years, and their associate Mohammed Osman (40) of Chandrayangutta.
Raju and Srinivas had cut six sandalwood trees at the zoo and smuggled the red sanders on August 28 and 30. Some pieces were sold to Osman for Rs.15,000 while others were kept in their houses. The theft came to light when officials started counting the trees after clearing bushes.
Zoo officials allot number to every tree and the missing trees came into light during a counting exercise recently, said Bahadurpura Detective Sub-Inspector Faizullah Khan.
Zoo curator A. Shankaran lodged a complaint with the police. Acting on a tip-off, the police detained Raju and Srinivas who confessed to having committed the crime.
Based on their confession, the police raided their houses and seized small logs of sandalwood from their houses along with an axe and cutting machines. Sandalwood powder and incense stick packets were also seized from Osman’s house.