Public chase away sandal smugglers in Kovai, 6 persons arrested later by cops

Around 1 am on Friday, the members of the gang axed a sandalwood tree grown on the premises of a house in the Neelikonampalayam. On hearing some unusual noise, the house owner woke up and came out of the house, but retreated seeing the gang members armed with sickles and knives.

On hearing his cries for help, the neighbours came out of their houses. Sensing trouble, the members of the gang, who by then managed to axe down the tree, immediately fled by carrying the chopped sandalwood logs.

Not to let them away, around 50 residents teamed up and gave a hot chase to nab the culprits. The smugglers, however, managed to escape, but then left behind the chopped sandalwood logs in a nearby farm.

On receiving information, the Singanallur police held an inspection on the spot and recovered the sandalwood logs. Also the police recovered train tickets, ‘beedi’ packs and mosquito coils from a temporary shelter put up near the farm.

The police also scrutinised images recorded on a CCTV camera fixed in the neighbourhood and found a 15-member armed gang smuggling the chopped sandalwood tree from the house. However, their identity could not be known as they had covered their faces with hand kerchief.

Later, the police arrested six persons and a search is on to nab the remaining membersof the gang. The police suspect the gang might have come to the city from Dharmapuri and Tiruvannamalai districts to smuggle sandalwoods. Further investigations are on.