Venjaramoodu mishap could blow lid off sandalwood mafia

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A road accident involving a sandalwood-laden car at Venjaramoodu could blow the lid off a sandalwood oil mafia which thrives on wood smuggled out of either Aryankavu area of Kollam or Kalakkad-Mundanthurai reserve of Tamil Nadu.

The forest officials arrested a man in connection with the case on Friday and hope to bust an international racket.

The Maruti Alto car belonging to a Vithura native was smuggling 114 kg of sandalwood when it hit a truck on Thursday.

The forest officials who took custody of the wood say that unlike in recent cases, they are unfit to be sculpted into idols but  ideal to make sandalwood oil which is  known as liquid gold.

“The small pieces and root portions can be distilled into sandalwood oil. The oil officially sold by Kerala forest department costs  Rs 1,500 for 5ml,” said a forest official who is probing the case.

The Kerala poachers have been using Agasthyakoodam forest routes to sneak into Kalakkad-Mundanthurai situated 15 km from the district.

“Though sandalwood is scarce here, isolated trees  exist throughout the area. A kilogram can cost Rs 5,000 and poachers polish them in the forest itself and bring them to the city. A three-four member poacher gang makes up to Rs 5  lakh a month,” an expert said.

Until a few years ago, many poachers,  particularly from Vithura-Bonacaud areas,  used to go missing and they were believed to have been gunned down by forest guards or estate owners in  Tamil Nadu.

As per Tamil Nadu officials artificial forest fires are triggered here during July-August months ahead of Onam.

“We are probing the involvement of a mafia. This could have also originated from Aryankavu where there are high densities of sandalwood,” said Palode range officer S.V. Vinod.

The protected Kadamanpara area of Aryankavu alone is estimated to have over 50,000 trees which are over 50 years.