Gang of sandalwood thieves nabbed

PUNE: A five-member gang from Madhya Pradesh, arrested on July 15 by the Pune crime branch, are behind at least 12 cases of sandalwood theft in the city, according to the police.
Rujan Rathod (25), Sanand Rathod (30), Sonandlal Pawar (30), Kisan Rajgond (30) and Daggu Thakur (35) all currently residing at Bhosari, were nabbed by the police following a tip-off.A police team, led by inspector Sunil Pawar, raided their residence at Panjarpol in Bhosari. A sixth person, Anil Jadhav (31) of Phaltan in Satara, was arrested for purchasing wooden logs from the suspects.
The men have been sent by the court to police custody till July 22.
During interrogation, they allegedly admitted to cutting down sandalwood trees in the jurisdiction of the Airport, Yerawada, Wanowrie, Bund Garden, Dehu Road, Paud and Lonavla police stations.
The police have recovered tools used to cut down the trees and are in the process of recovering sandalwood logs from them.
According to the police, the gang would scout the areas under the pretext of selling herbs and medicines. Once they identified the tree they would return at night and cut it down.
Investigations have revealed that the men came to Pune via Kamshet and Lonavla six months before the monsoon and had chopped down a large numbers of trees and sold them to prospective buyers for between Rs 500 and Rs 700.
The crime branch is trying to establish whether the gang has links with seven men arrested earlier this month for sandalwood theft.