Sandalwood worth Rs60 crore seized, 3 arrested

A team of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested three persons and recovered a huge consignment of sandalwood from two godowns in outer Delhi. Acting on a tip-off, raids were conducted at godowns in Rohini and Samaipur Badli on Thursday.

A team of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested three persons and recovered a huge consignment of sandalwood from two godowns in outer Delhi. Acting on a tip-off, raids were conducted at godowns in Rohini and Samaipur Badli on Thursday.

HT Image

"We have recovered 300 tonne of sandalwood worth Rs60 crore from the two godowns. Initial investigations suggest that the consignment was brought to Delhi from Andhra Pradesh," said DM Tripathi, assistant director of Delhi zone of DRI. According to sources, this is one of the major recoveries of sandalwood in the recent past.

"We had inputs that smugglers are using Delhi as a transit point and are sending sandalwood to Gulf countries through cargo," a DRI officer said. The DRI team was led by Tripathi and two senior Investigations officers.

"They posed as fruits transporters and brought sandalwood to Delhi. Here, they keep the woods in godowns and waited for the right opportunity to send it to the gulf countries," the officer added. There is a huge demand of sandalwood in Gulf countries. The woods are mostly used for preparing medicines and furniture.