The demand for sandalwood is resulting in thieves becoming brazen. Three men attempted to chop a sandalwood tree next to a residential apartment that is barely 1.5 km from Whitefield police station. While they were prevented from collecting the logs of wood, they were able to give police the slip.
Around 11.30 a.m. on Sunday, a resident of an apartment in the area spotted the men trying to chop a sandalwood tree in a vacant plot nearby. He alerted the police. Head Constable Vittal B. Murkibhavi and his colleague Constable Rajkumar rushed to the spot and found three men trying to cut the tree.
As soon as the cops approached, the men fled, leaving their equipment and a mobile phone. “We have seized their equipment, mobile phone and sandalwood logs the men left behind,” said a police officer.
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The Whitefield police have registered a case under various section of Forest Act and are trying locate them using data from their phone.