A judge in the family court in Kota named Kishan Gujjar was robbed of more than Rs 1 crore in the form of a decades-old sandalwood tree. The judge lives in a government allocated bungalow near Nehru garden. The family was away on holiday when the incident took place on the night of December 30.
According to the report published in the DNA, the judge, when returned to his bungalow, was astonished to see that some miscreants chopped off a sandalwood tree in his garden and made off with the trunk, which weighed around three tonnes. It is estimated to be worth more than Rs 1 crore.
The station house officer of Nayapura police station Manoj Rana stated that the thieves disconnected the power supply and telephone line to the bungalow. Then they used a mechanised woodcutter to chop off the tree, loaded it into a truck through the backyard of the bungalow and drove away.
An environmentalist Brijesh Vijayvergya said that “The entire process of felling the tree and transporting would take three to four hours.” The incident could not have been committed without conniving with the guards and caretakers of the bungalow.
He further stated that there have been past cases of sandalwood tree burglary from government bungalows. However, no stern action has been taken by the police.
After the incident, old cases are being re-examined for leads and special police teams have been formed to trace the culprits.