Huge quantity of red sandalwood worth several crores seized from north Bengal village

ALIPURDUAR: A huge quantity of illegal red sandalwood logs and barks, worth several crores of rupees, were seized from a village in Alipurduar district.

Forest Department officials, assisted by a Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) team, yesterday raided three houses at Paschim Satali village under Jaigaon police station and found over 300 red sandalwood logs and nine sacks of red sandalwood barks hidden underground, SSB officials said today.

A top forest official of the district said the seized sandalwood weighed about four tonnes.

While forest officials were tight lipped about the price of the seized sandalwood, unconfirmed reports said it would be worth several crores of rupees.

Two persons were arrested in connection with the seizure.

Ramel Karjee, one of the two arrested, alleged before the media that the father of a local Trinamool Congress MLA had forced them to keep the wood and claimed they had the required papers to corroborate this.

While the MLA could not be contacted, his father, however, said a conspiracy was hatched to frame them.

Karjee and the other arrested person were produced before an Alipurduar court today and were remanded to 14 days's jail custody.

Meanwhile, opposition parties - CPI-M, Congress and RSP demanded arrest of the MLA's father and threatened to launch an agitation if it was not done.

Red sandalwood has a huge demand in China due to its medicinal properties and other usage.

It is largely found in southern India, mainly in Andhra Pradesh. The wood comes under the endangered category of wild flora and fauna whose export is banned.