Sandalwood smuggler on the run for 34 years lands in police net

BENGALURU: He entered the world of sandalwood smuggling in the early 1980s and managed to evade arrest even though he was on police radar for 34 years. However, his luck ran out on Thursday morning when he paid a secret visit to his home at Sangli, Maharashtra. Little did

Chandrakanth Lakshman Suryavamshi

know that a police team from Kittur in Belagavi was waiting for him for over a week.

Chan drakanth, 61, starting smuggling sandalwood when it cost Rs 6,000 per quintal.It now costs Rs 7 lakh per quintal. He was 27 years old when he first came on police radar. He was smuggling nine quintals of sandalwood in his minitruck on July 30, 1984 on Bengaluru-Pune national highway when he was flagged down by Kittur police. Chandrakanth and his three associates abandoned the vehicle and fled.

An arrest warrant was issued for Chandrakanth after police found he was the truck owner. They filed a chargesheet on March 10, 1985. But nothing happened after that as Chandrakanth managed to throw cops off his trail by moving out of Sangli. His smuggling, though, continued. In 1993, he had another close shave when Shivamogga police closed in on him while he was smuggling sandalwood near Siralkoppa.

Kittur police sub-inspector Veeranna Latti, who took charge four months ago, began pursuing Chandrakanth again; he formed a team to collect information about him with help from Sangli police.

Kittur police got information that Chandrakanth’s wife was staying in Sangli with her two children. A team, which was dispatched to collect more details, found out that Chandrakanth would visit his family often. The officials were told to keep an eye on his wife, hoping he would meet her. Over the weeklong stay, Kittur police got information about Chandrakanth’s Aadhaar card and other credentials. One official camped near Chandr akanth’s house and spotted him on Wednesday night. He was picked up in the wee hours of Thursday.

Chandrakanth soon spilled the beans about his smuggling activities. He said he had worked in a saw mill in Maharashtra. Police are finding it difficult to get details since Most officials who had documented his crimes have since retired or died.