Pune: Sandalwood thieves target campuses as authorities struggle with security

PUNE: The sprawling campuses of government, academic and research establishments in the city have become soft targets of sandalwood tree thieves, with the authorities struggling to take apt measures to check such thefts.
Sample this: A total of 66 thefts of sandalwood trees have been reported from 2016 from various campuses. Police could detect only 25 of them.
Police claimed a decline in sandalwood thefts after the arrest of three gangs between 2016 and 2019.But in reality, the culprits have been striking at regular intervals. The most recent incidents occurred at the National Institute of Bank Management, Kondhwa, and the Regional Ayurveda Institute for Fundamental Research in Kothrud, accentuating the problem.
The police pointed their fingers at the “inadequate security” on campuses as the prime factor behind sandalwood thefts. “Such crimes will decline if the security system is improved, trained guards are posted, compound walls are built, superior quality CCTV cameras are deployed for monitoring movement and microchip cards are embedded in trees for relaying alerts in case of any theft attempt,” additional commissioner of police Ashok Morale, who heads the Pune crime branch, told TOI.
A state forest officer, who did not wish to be named, said, “An effective tree census can be one of the solution towards keeping a tab on the number of sandalwood trees and their apt conservation.”
He said, “Southern states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which account for a major share of sandalwood cultivation in India, have been experimenting with the technology of embedding microchips in the trees, which can send alerts if anyone is cutting them. However, the cost of such microchips is an impediment.”
Morale said, “Scarcity of sandalwood trees drives the culprits to target campuses, particularly those engaged in agriculture and medicinal research, for sourcing the sought-after wood. Lax security only makes their task easier.”
The NIBM director, K L Dhingra, said, “We are deploying additional CCTV cameras and lights at critical areas on our campus to prevent recurrence of sandalwood thefts. We have also requested the police to increase the frequency of patrolling around our campus.”
Savitribai Phule Pune University’s security chief Suresh Bhosale said, “We have tightened security, particularly near the IUCAA and the B C Joshi gates of our campus, and have deployed a quick response team with walkie talkies at the university’s main gate. Six CCTV cameras have been installed at strategic locations for monitoring activities around the trees.”
Bhosale said, “We have written to the forest department to do apt numbering of sandalwood trees on its premises behind our campus. If done, we shall intensify patrolling there too.”
Morale said, “Our investigation has revealed that thieves deploy a typical modus operandi of conducting recce to identify the trees which can be chopped and stolen during the night time from the campuses. The stolen wood is then sold to receivers at cheap rate and the receivers, in turn, sell them at a higher price to those involved in manufacturing sandalwood products.”
Deputy commissioner of police Bachchan Singh said, “Gangs from Ahmednagar, Solapur and Khed (in Pune district) are known for indulging in sandalwood thefts. We are pursuing our investigation to detect the pending cases.”
Lawyer Abhijit Sakurkar, who has been representing the forest department in many cases related to smuggling of sandalwood trees, said, “The state and central government organizations should conduct census and identify sandalwood trees on their premises, and chalk out a security plan for preventing thefts.”