In another instance of sandalwood theft at National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), five trees were chopped and stolen from the institute’s premises at Pune’s Pashan Road Sunday, said the police.
As per the press releases issued Monday, unidentified people entered the NCL premises and stole these sandalwood logs worth Rs 15,000 between 3 am and 6 am the previous day.
Dhanaji Patil, 46, a security supervisor at the NCL, lodged the first information report (FIR) at the Chaturshringi police station. The police booked the unidentified accused under sections 379 (theft) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In a similar incident, five sandalwood trees were stolen from the NCL premises in December 2022. An FIR in this matter was lodged at the Chaturshringi police station.
As per the police records, the NCL has been the target of sandalwood thieves for a long time. In September 2021, ten sandalwood trees were stolen from its premises.
In October 2021, two more sandalwood trees, estimated at Rs 15,000, were stolen from its premises.
In November 2021, the police arrested a gang of four people from Baramati. They were found to be involved in sandalwood thefts at the NCL guest house and other spots. The police recovered sandalwood logs worth Rs 1.56 from their possession.
