Sandalwood tree stolen, now from Shirole road bungalow; probe on

Recent cases

In another theft on October 6, unidentified persons stole a sandalwood log estimated at Rs 25,000 from Chhaya society on Law College road on Saturday. A 57-year-old woman living in Chhaya society had lodged the FIR at the Deccan police station.

Earlier, on August 11 morning, a gang of about eight people uprooted and stole a hefty 70-year-old sandalwood tree from a bungalow in Bharati Nivas colony, Erandwane, on Prabhat road. The huge noise made during the felling of the sandalwood tree brought the bungalow residents out of the house. But the thieves pointed sharp weapons at them, threatening to kill them. An FIR of this case was also lodged at Deccan police station.

Thefts in the past 2 months

Meanwhile, sandalwood thefts have been reported from across the city in the last couple of months.

Logs of two sandalwood trees were stolen from the premises of an Indian Army officer’s residential bungalow on Nehru Marg in Ghorpadi Bazar on September 19. An FIR was lodged at Wanwadi police station.

On September 18, a sandalwood tree was chopped and stolen from a bungalow in the plush Mitra Mandal colony in Pune, for which an FIR was lodged at Parvati police station. The tree worth Rs 50,000 was chopped and stolen around 4 am during the time of Ganesh immersion processions in the city.

In another incident, three sandalwood trees were stolen from the sprawling premises of New Club (Poona) on the Rajendrasinghji Road in Pune Camp between August 30 and September 4, for which an FIR was lodged at Bundgarden police station.

On August 23, a five-member gang stole sandalwood logs worth Rs 15,000 from the Sushildatta bungalow at Adarsh Nagar in Market Yard area.