Mandya: The Forest Officers of Mandya district seized 15 kgs of sandalwood worth Rs 15 lakhs near Muthathi Forest area and arrested one amongst the three smugglers.
The arrested is identified as Srinivas, a resident of Halaguru and the missing have been identified as Ravi and his friend. The search operations to nab the missing smugglers is on.
These smugglers were seen roaming suspiciously around Mathathi forest area over a week and learning their behaviour a squad led by the Forest Department Officers Praveen Kumar, Vinayak Kumar Bombalekere, Siddakumar and Jayaram caught Praveen red hand, while the other two ran away.
The accused have been booked under Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
As per the Forest Act, sandalwood trees even in private compounds can be felled only with the permission from forest department.