The sandalwoods are reportedly processed in the forests itself and transported clandestinely in interstate trucks carrying other goods to avoid raids by forest departments.
The forest department on Saturday seized 18 big sandalwood los weighing around 6.60 quintals from a deserted house at Bhimpur near Garabandh. The seized wood is estimated to be worth Rs 15 lakh.
According to local Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sangram Keshari Behera, the logs were stacked in the deserted house. No one has been arrested in the case.
“We have registered a case and investigation is on who had stockpiled the sandalwood here,” said the DFO.
Sources said the forest officials were tipped off about the hoarding of the sandalwood at Bhimpur a month ago. Accordingly, it had prepared a blueprint to apprehend the culprits.
Though the forest officials managed to seize the stockpile of the sandalwood, the mafias succeeded in giving them a slip. It is suspected that someone from the raid team might have tipped off the mafias to help them escape the arrest.
Odisha’s sandalwood is in high demand in other states and in some foreign countries.
The local people said lack of strong vigil by the forest officials account for the increase in sandalwood smuggling in the area.
