Pune Crime Files: How ‘Rakt Chandan’ smugglers exploited loophole in Customs clearance

Red sandalwood, also known as Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) or Rakt Chandan, is a rare and precious wood that naturally grows only in India, that, too, only in the Seshachalam hill ranges in the Kadapa, Chittoor and Nellore districts on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It is an endangered species, protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Its export and import have been banned since 1994.

Acting on a tip-off, a crime branch team led by Assistant Police Inspector Mahesh Khande and Sub Inspector Bharat Gosavi intercepted a container near the old Urse toll post on the Pune–Mumbai Expressway, around 2.30 pm on March 2. The police initially found bundles of ‘kathya‘ (coconut fibre ropes) in the container. When the container was searched thoroughly, huge logs of red sandalwood were found hidden under the bundles of coconut fibre ropes, the police said.

The container driver, Rajaram Gaykhe, 37, from Ahilyanagar, and cleaner Harpreetsingh Bhadana, 42, from Thane, were arrested. An FIR was lodged against them at the Shirgaon Parandwadi police station under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Indian Forest Act 1927, and the Maharashtra Felling of Trees (Regulation) Act, 1964. The police seized 11,490 kg of red sandalwood logs, estimated at Rs 9 crore, from the container.

Senior Police Inspector Vijay Dhamal, the investigation officer, said the seized sandalwood came from the forests in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. “After reaching Pune by container, it was unloaded at a spot in Kapurhol (a village in the Bhor taluka in the Pune district). The container, then carrying only coconut fibre ropes, went to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) and procured a gate pass from the Customs department for transporting the same.”

“The containers are not immediately loaded into the ships. There is a queue of about 12 hours to 20 hours. Taking advantage of this time period, the racketeers returned to Pune, loaded the red sandalwood in the container, hiding it behind the coconut fibre ropes. Then, while they were secretly transporting the red sandalwood to the JNPT, also called the Nhava Sheva port, via the Pune–Mumbai expressway, we seized it.”

The officer said the accused would get a gate pass from Customs, then load the red sandalwood kept at different spots in the containers and come back to the port within eight hours. It is then smuggled to Dubai, and from there to countries like China and Japan, he said.

Dhamal said that during the investigation, they arrested three men, Shrikant Bhilare, Deepak Sable, and Indrajit Mane, for their alleged role in the transportation of red sandalwood. “We also arrested an accused, Najir Khan, linked to the red sandalwood syndicate in Andhra,” he said.

Shivaji Pawar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said on July 10, crime branch sleuths arrested the key accused Rajendra Vitthal Shinde, 43, of Vashi in Navi Mumbai. His interrogation led to the arrest of Tausif Riyaz Jamadar of Kopar Khairane in Navi Mumbai on July 11.

“Tausif managed to get the Customs clearance at the port, thus playing a crucial role in red sandalwood smuggling. He operated with the fake name Kalpesh Singh. Rajendra Shinde and Tausif are the prime accused who were arrested in similar cases in the past. A search is on for two more suspects. So far, we have not found the involvement of any Customs officials in this case,” said Inspector Dhamal.

Previous instances of red sandalwood smuggling

In the past, too, there have been multiple cases of red sandalwood smuggling via Pune. In July 2024, the Pune regional unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 8 metric tonnes of red sandalwood worth Rs 7.9 crore from a container soon after it entered the JNPT for export. DRI probe revealed that red sandalwood was concealed behind the polished granite slabs and cement bricks. Five people were arrested in this case.

In May 2021, the Pimpri Chinchwad police seized over six tonnes of red sandalwood worth over Rs 6 crores from a truck parked in the Tathawade area. The consignment was meant to go abroad via a port near Mumbai. Five people, including three from Mumbai and one from Karnataka, were arrested. In April 2018, police seized sandalwood worth a few crores of rupees, kept below the empty glass bottles in a container, from the Wakad area on the Mumbai–Bengaluru highway.

Investigators believe that Red sandalwood was traditionally used to carve Hindu idols, design picture frames and make dolls, besides household containers. However, it is now in greater demand in foreign countries for producing medicines, facial creams, musical instruments, and other purposes. Investigations also revealed that China is the main buyer of the red sanders smuggled out of India.

Biodiversity experts say that ‘Pterosibilin’ is extracted from red sandalwood to make herbal sex pills, which are very costly.