Indore: Seven Of Interstate Gang Held For Sandalwood Theft

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Seven men, three from Nagda, were arrested in connection with sandalwood theft in the Sanyogitaganj area, police said on Saturday. Two of the accused used to help the accused in concealing the stolen wood. The accused allegedly confessed to their crime after which the police recovered about 40 kilograms of sandalwood from them.

 DCP (zone-3) Manish Agrawal said there have been many incidents of sandalwood theft in the Palasia and Residency areas of the city. A team led by Sanyogitaganj police station in-charge Tahjib Kaji was constituted to identify the accused. The police team checked the CCTVs of the area and deployed informers.

 During the investigation, information was received about a suspect named Shahzad, a resident of Chandan Nagar area. Shahzad along with his friends used to roam in the residency area.

The police gathered more information about him and managed to arrest him and his accomplices named Mangilal Bagri, Balwant Bagri and Bhola Bagri, all residents of Nagda.

 The accused informed the police that Shahzad and his accomplices were involved in cutting sandalwood trees and stealing sandalwood from the area. They used to give the sandalwood to one Akib of Manikbag area, who used to sell the sandalwood with the help of his agents in the market. Following the information given by the accused, the police arrested Mohammad Sadik, Farukh and Rauf, who used to conceal the stolen goods.

TI Kaji said that the accused were involved in some incidents in Gujarat also. They allegedly confessed to committing theft in other districts as well. The accused were produced before the court from where they were sent to police remand for five days.   

 Sandalwood worth lakhs of rupees has been recovered from the accused and they are being questioned further. Police believe that they would confess to more incidents in the city or other districts.