Four men accused of smuggling and trading in sandalwood were nabbed by the Metagalli police recently and 230 kg of sandalwood, valued at ₹35 lakh, was seized from them.
The accused are Raghu, Manjunath, Maqbul Sharief, and Sayyid Ghouse. The Metagalli police said the accused had sneaked inside the compound of Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt. Ltd., a high-security zone, and felled a sandalwood tree. Raghu and Manjunath first felled a tree on January 8, but were caught red-handed when they ventured to do it again on January 14. The police subjected Raghu and Manjunath, who confessed to have sold sandalwood to one Maqbul Sharief in Mysuru. The latter was picked up by the police on January 15 and his premises raided, which yielded nearly 40 kg of sandalwood.
Based on information provided by Sharief, the police zeroed in on Sayyid Ghouse, who used to buy sandalwood from Sharief. A raid on his premises led to the recovery of 190 kg of sandalwood. According to the police, Ghouse was involved in a similar case at Virajpet, where a case was registered against him in 2019. He had spent 84 days in Madikeri prison.
