It costs Rs 2 lakh per kg in international market
Mumbai: The Red Sandalwood consignment, seized by Amboli police last week, was to be shipped to China via Dubai, revealed police investigation. The two accused had cut the red sandalwood in green and cut it in log shapes to pass it off as normal commercial wood.
Police said the assorted wood, which is available for Rs50,000 per kg in local markets, its international value is over Rs2 lakh per kg. During the investigation, the arrested accused revealed the wood was hidden in a Kurla godown, where police raided and seized a total of 1,854 kgs of Red Sandalwood.
The assorted wood, which was cut and packed in boxes, had a receipt claiming it was commercial wood, being shipped to China via Dubai by ‘ACC Cement and Co’, which was a fake company. The duo, Ejaaz Fateh Sayyed (31) and Sufyan Islam Shaikh (19), confessed to setting up a fake company and importing the Red Sandalwood from the forests of South India, said a police official.
The Red Sandalwood has been in-demand in China, where it is used for treating digestive tract problems, fluid retention, cough and blood purification and in other Ayurvedic medicine preparations. In manufacturing companies, it is also used as a flavouring agent in alcoholic beverages.
Last week, acting on a tip-off, an Amboli police team intercepted a truck near Veera Desai Road in Andheri (W). Upon checking, it found a packed consignment of 500 kgs of Red Sandalwood. Police arrested the duo and booked them under relevant IPC sections for theft (section 379) and other sections of the Indian Forest Act.
For the last few months, police have been keeping a watch on transportaion of consignments, since drugs and assorted products are being smuggled through international carriers. Police are scrutinising the role of the couriers, who might have helped the accused to ship the consignments in the past.
