Forest officials are puzzled over the recent theft of sandalwood from a forest godown in Belagavi.
Officers found that sandalwood pieces, weighing a total of 75 kilograms and worth around ₹1.5 lakh, were stolen over a period of time from the Forest Department’s godown near Sangolli Rayanna Circle.
These were from the lots seized by field level officers from suspected smugglers and poachers. They include logs involved in pending court cases.
Two weeks ago, a complaint was filed by forest officers with the Market Police Station, situated next door to the forest office in Belagavi.
Range Forest Officer Vinay Goudar has registered the complaint saying that the stocks were found intact during an inspection on February 12. But, the valuable pieces were found missing 10 days later.
Investigators say that the forest officials cannot escape from their responsibility. Initial investigation found that there were no CCTV cameras in the godown.
“Apart from sandalwood stocks, the godown has Neeragandha, Guada and other timber and skin, horns and other material harvested from wildlife. Vehicles used for transporting such material are also kept in the godown. Detailed inventories, including description of material, their value, officers who seized them, in what cases, are all recorded properly. The officers conduct occasional inspection too. But then, the department has not fixed CCTV cameras in the godown. There are some CCTV cameras in other offices. We have communicated this to senior officers in the Forest Department,” a police officer said.
“ Prima facie, it does not seem that someone has forced open the doors of the godown. Some people might have used duplicate keys to open the storage facility. However, further investigation will confirm this,’’ he said.
Deputy Conservator of Forests Harsha Banu said that the department will take all steps to ensure that such incidents did not recur.
