155kg sandalwood seized; 4 arrested

T'puram: Forest department on Monday seized 155kg of sandalwood billets during an illegal trade near Kovalam Beach and arrested four people.The arrested have been identified as Shafeeq and S Nabeeb, both of Kollam, J Nehemiah from Tamil Nadu and Bijukumar from Neyyattinkara. Officials said the group was attempting to smuggle sandalwood when they were intercepted. The raid was carried out based on a tip-off received by forest intelligence division. Personnel from Paruthipalli range and Thiruvananthapuram flying squad range jointly conducted the operation. Earlier, in connection with the same sandalwood smuggling racket, the key link in the trade—Jayakumar from Meppamcode—was arrested from Marthandam in Tamil Nadu under the leadership of the Paruthipalli range officer.According to officials, the network was actively transporting sandalwood from Tamil Nadu to Kerala through covert channels. All accused are currently in custody, and further probe is under way to trace other members of the smuggling network.