Raid reveals ’sealed’ plant still operational

Three years after an oil extraction plant near Shirur was shut down, police seize sandalwood, machinery worth Rs 50 lakh in raid

Raid reveals 'sealed' plant still operational

Three years after an oil extraction plant near Shirur was shut down, police seize sandalwood, machinery worth Rs 50 lakh in raid

It took the Pune rural police three years to realise that an oil extraction plant that was sealed in 2007 was still being used to extract sandalwood oil. A team led by Police Inspector Ram Jadhav of the Pune rural police, Crime Branch, raided the plant near Shirur from 11 pm to 5 am on Monday and seized material worth Rs 50 lakh during the raid. The place was sealed in 2007 by the then forest minister Baban Pachpute, as it did not have the licence to extract sandalwood oil and was found to be doing so.

Caught in the act: A team led by Crime Branch of Pune rural police
raided the oil extraction plant near Shirur that was supposed to have
been sealed in 2007; the extracted sandalwood oil that was seized by
the police. Pics/Satish Dhumal

The police said that even before the plant was closed, it had the licence to extract only citronella oil used in mosquito repellents. During Monday's raid, the party found that only two boilers were put in for extraction of citronella oil and the remaining nine were being used to extract sandalwood oil. The police arrested five persons who are Hanumant Dhanashetty (More), Babu alias Sujit Hanumant Dhanashetty, Maruti Raiappa More, Yallappa Laxman Gaikwad, Baliram Bheema Gaikwad, all residents of Bafana Mala Taluk, Shirur.

The alleged owners were produced before the Shirur Court and remanded in police custody till July 9.
The police said six more were absconding. "Hanumant Dhanashetty was arrested in 2007 when a similar raid was carried out some three years ago. Superintendent of Police Sandip Karnik has ordered his officers to verify if there is any connection between the sandalwood thefts in the city and the plant. We suspect the Dhanashettys have a nexus with sandalwood thieves syndicate, who may be supplying them the raw material," said Jadhav.

The Crime Branch said the front door was sealed after the raid in 2007, but the workers and owners used the back door to run the plant. The police have seized 18 kg sandalwood oil, sandalwood powder and wooden pieces weighing 1,300 kg and machinery to extract oil amounting to Rs 40 lakh. The plant is located on the Pune-Ahmednagar bypass road. A high compound wall was built around this plant to keep passers-by in the dark about the activities going on inside. The police have formed several teams to nab the absconders. Police Inspector Ashok Kshirsagar is investigating the case.