Which is the best place to steal sandalwood? Tree cutters, who followed this logic, landed up at the doorstep of the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd. (KSDL) factory in Yeshwantpur. The company is renowned for production of Mysore Sandal Soap and sandal oil. On Thursday, three sandalwood trees were stolen from the premises.
The company has over 120 fully grown sandalwood trees among hundreds of smaller trees, but is finding it tough to procure enough raw material to the meet the demand for its products.
With reserves depleting in the State, most of the supply comes from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. On top of this comes the theft. The company has lodged a complaint with the Subramanya Nagar police. “The three trees were young and the total value of sandalwood lost is around Rs. 25,000. They were close to the compound wall near the road leading to the metro station. The thieves seem to have jumped over the wall to enter the premises, cut the trees and thrown them over the compound wall,” a security official from KSDL said. Three guards patrol the 34 acre premises at night. None of them was present at the section where the theft occurred, the official said.
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Police say the investigation has been hampered due to the lack of CCTV cameras in the vicinity.