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Bengaluru crime news: Police catch red sandalwood smuggler. He was in a red car
Kengeri police nabbed a man with red sandalwood logs inside his vehicle at a regular check point in Bengaluru.
Police in Bengaluru's Kengeri on Thursday arrested a man for allegedly smuggling red sandalwood, or raktachanda, inside (appropriately, perhaps) a red-coloured car. He was arrested after police had suspicions about the vehicle during a regular check point.
Those inside tried to flee while being questioned but Kengeri Police managed to catch one person and recover five logs of red sandalwood worth ₹3.15 lakh.
Laxman B Nimbargi, deputy commissioner of police (west Bengaluru) tweeted: "An accused who was caught with red sandalwood is arrested at a regular check point and red sandal worth of rupees 3.15 lakh is seized from him. The total weight of recovered sandalwood is 105 kgs and the accused is taken into custody. The red color car in which the sandalwood is being transferred is also seized."
Kengeri Police are conducting further inquries to catch the remaining accused - those who managed to escape from police check point.
The red car - a Toyota - has an Andhra Pradesh number plate.
In February, a Bengaluru-based man identified as Yasin Inayithulla was arrested in Maharashtra for smuggling red sandalwood. He claimed to have bene inspired by a 2021 Telugu movie based on sandalwood smuggling - Pushpa, starring Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna. Logs worth ₹2.45 crore were recovered from him.
