Chief of Sindhupalchowk Police Basanta Kumar Lama said 79 logs of red sandalwood were recovered from Choukidanda in Tatopani-1. Trade in red sandalwood has been prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). [break]
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Lama said the raid by around 100 Nepal Police and APF personnel was carried out following a tip-off. Red sandalwood logs weighing 1,453 kilograms were found hidden inside the houses and the maize fields nearby.
Police recovered 34, 27, 6, 4, 3 logs from the houses of Lal Maya Gurung, Pasang Shrestha, Dhan Kumari Jaishi, Man Bahadur Magar and Ram Bahadur Magar respectively. Six logs were found in a maize field.“"We started to recover red sandalwood at around 1 am, seven hours after starting the raid”" DSP Lama said.
Police said the houses, where red sandalwood was found, were locked from outside with no resident inside. The sandalwood was brought to the district headquarters Chautara amid tight security and was handed over to the District Forest Office for necessary legal action.“"We will start investigations to find out the owners of the contraband and those who helped in hiding it”" DSP Lama added.
The search operations was carried out by 40 Nepal Police personnel, led by DSP Lama and 51 APF men under Superintendent of Police (SP) Raju Ram Suwal of Boarder Security Office, Lamosanghu.
Police sources said the wood was kept hidden for over a week after recent police vigilance made smuggling to Khasa difficult. Red sandalwood smuggling has picked up in the past five months after it remaining low for around three years due to low prices.
But a recent sharp rise in the market price has re-energized local smugglers in the illegal trade. The price that plummeted to Rs 900 per kilogram after seeing a high of over Rs 3,000 around three years ago has now risen to Rs 9,000.
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