Police in Himachal Pradesh have raided a highway house and seized sanders wood worth several crores in the Jeori area of Shimla district, police said.
The state vigilance and anti-corruption team led by DSP Virender Kalia raided a private house in Kochhari near Jeori, 150 km from Shimla and found about 15 to 20 tonnes of red sandars wood worth crores of rupees. The counting and weighing of the contraband is still going on .The wood was stored in two rooms , Kalia said .
The police team posed as buyers of the precious wood and trapped the culprits. Four persons have been arrested.
The hammer markings on the wood indicate the sandalwood has been smuggled from South India.
The logs are four to eight feet long and forty inches thick.
In North India, Himachal Pradesh has become a soft state for peddling sander wood to China because of its porous border with bordering Tibet (China).
Anurag Garg IG Vigilance said a tonne of red sander wood is valued at Rs 3.5 million (35 lakh).
Last year, two truckloads of sander wood weighing 12 tonnes worth 6 crores rupees was seized in Sumdo in Spiti near the Chinese border.
