Crime branch busts gang involved in stealing sandalwood trees from city

- The gang would use to perform ‘reiki’ before cutting the tree.

- Network of sandalwood business spread till Madhya Pradesh.

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad, Sept 13:

The crime branch police have busted a gang involved in stealing sandalwood trees from the city and disposing of them in Madhya Pradesh.

The police inspector (Crime Branch) Avinash Aghav said that the two members of the gang arrested by the police have confessed to stealing sandalwood trees from eight different spots in the city. Meanwhile, the trader who would purchase the stolen sandalwood trunk, Ilyas Khan Raees Khan, managed to flee away.

Acting upon the tip-off, the team headed by PSI Amol Mhaske laid a trap at Palshi Phata and arrested Naseeb Khan Munir Khan (22, Maholi Adgaon) and Aslam Khan Bhure Khan (25, Sadar) on road leading from Palshi to Pisadevi.

During the investigation, the duo confessed that with the help of their accomplice staying in villages (and tehsil) from Kunjkheda (Kannad), Ghantabari and Janjala (Sillod) and Maholi Adgaon they had stolen three trees from the jurisdiction of Vedantnagar police station; two from Cidco MIDC police station and one each from Cantonment, Mukundwadi and Pundaliknagar police stations. The crime branch seized the sandalwood trunk, apart from valuables of Rs 38,100 from their possession.

The action-taking team comprises ASI Satish Jadhav, Jitendra Thakur, Sanjay Rajput, Vithal Sure, Navnath Khandekar, Taterao Shingare and Nitin Deshmukh.

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Reiki before fixing the target

A resident of Janjala (Sillod tehsil) Mashid would use to perform ‘reiki’ of sandalwood trees in different parts of the city on his motorcycle. On finding the tree, he would then collect all the minute details including the routes approaching the tree. He would then share this information with the gang. Later on, they would all meet in Maholi Adgaon. The gang would then arrive in Aurangabad in a vehicle and after cutting the tree would flee away with the trunk of the sandalwood tree.

It is learnt that they would cut the tree by threatening security personnel on duty at knife point. Then the trunk is transported to Maholi Adgaon where the trader Ilyas Khan would buy it and then re-transport the trunk to Shendva village in Mandla tehsil of Madhya Pradesh.

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The trader Iliyas Khan would purchase the trunk at the rate of Rs 2,000 per kg and would sell it to the trader from Madhya Pradesh for Rs 4,000 per kg, said the duo arrested by the crime branch. They also mentioned that Ilyas was about to meet them for purchasing the trunk in their possession as he would not operate the business from his home. It may be noted that the business of sandalwood is popular in Aurangabad tehsil’s Maholi Adgaon, Kannad tehsil's Kunjkheda and Sillod tehsil's Janjala village.