Forest staff arrested three persons while smuggling sandalwood from the compound of Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) sub-centre at Agali, Attappady, on Monday.
Vijayakumar, 40, from Kandiyoor; Saneesh, 31, from Mukkali; and Jomon, 24, from Jellippara were held by the staff of Ommala and Pudur forest stations.
The Forest department officials recovered 130 kg of sandalwood logs from them. They were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court at Attappady and were remanded in judicial custody.
Pudur deputy range forest officer Jayaraj, Ommala deputy range forest officer Satheesh, section officers Ravikumar and Praveen, beat forest officers Priya, Karthikeyan, Samuel, Ravichandran, Moorthy and Saravanan were among the forest team that arrested the trio.
About 200 kg of sandalwood had been seized early this month from Sholayur, and eight persons were arrested in connection with it. According to forest officials, recent sandalwood seizures in Attappady indicate that smuggling activities are picking up pace in the region.
Within a short span of two weeks, authorities have made two significant seizures, indicating a growing trend.
Published – August 18, 2025 07:40 pm IST
