Kannur has been witnessing regular incidents of sandalwood theft with gangs targetting trees on private properties. In the last three weeks alone at least three such cases have been reported from the Kannur district.

On Tuesday, three youngsters were arrested by the Edakkad Police while smuggling three pieces of sandalwood in a pick-up van from Mavilayi. The gang comprised Vyshnav P (25), Rahul MT (32) and Sivan P (25), all natives of Mavilayi. The police seized logging tools from their van during an inspection at 3 am.

On October 11, a 66-year-old man was arrested by the Chakkarakkal Police for stealing sandalwood at Iriveri. The accused, Muhammed Kutti KK, a native of Kuttikattur, had felled a tree from a private property in broad daylight on October 8.

On September 30, two men, Lijin M (29) and KV Srujin (29) were arrested from Iriveri for stealing sandalwood from a property. They had felled a tree on the night of September 16. In all three cases, the trees were stolen from private properties.

Spying at day, stealing at night
According to the police, the thieves scan the locality during daytime. They first approach the property owner expressing interest to buy the tree and then return at night to steal it, the police said. With the increase in number of cases, the police said they have intensified vigil.

Legal process of selling sandalwood
Kannur Divisional Forest Officer, S Karthi said even though it is not illegal to grow sandalwood trees on private properties, cutting one isn't as simple. “People cannot directly cut down or sell a sandalwood tree. They must submit an application at the district level committee of the Forest Department regarding the selling of a sandalwood tree,” DFO Karthi said.

“The committee will verify, assess the value of the tree and once the price is finalized, the department will cut down the tree and transport it to a sandalwood oil factory. After taking the transportation charge, the remaining amount is given to the owner.” The DFO said the forest department is in the process of relaxing the existing formalities to ease the burden on sandalwood tree owners who wish to sell it.