Bengaluru: Banashankari police have arrested five sandalwood thieves and unearthed 138 kg of wood pieces worth around Rs 10 lakh. This has laid six unsolved cases in the city to rest. According to police, the thieves would identify houses with sandalwood trees under the pretext of selling bedsheets, then return later in the night to steal them.
The accused are Mohammed Imraan, 30, Fijula Khan alias Babu, 48, Rangaswami, 45, Shafiulla alias Kadupapu, 30, all four accused are residents of Tumkur and Uday Kumar alias Dashi, 24 from Channarayapatna in Hassan district.
According to police, Uday, one of the accused, would scout for locations, then inform the team. A few days later, they would arrive and steal the trees by cutting them into small logs. These logs were sold and the money divided.
Police stumbled onto the gang during their night patrol and grew suspicious, leading to the arrest. The five have been operating since 2016 and police have no solved cases in Kumaraswamy Layout, Vidyaranyapura, Basavanagudi and Banashankari police station limits.
