7 Sudanese students held with sandalwood logs
COIMBATORE: Seven Sudanese nationals studying in different colleges in the city were apprehended with sandalwood logs
by customs officials at Coimbatore Airport at around 7pm on Tuesday,
just minutes before they were about to board a Sharjah bound flight.
Each student was hiding about 7kgs of sandalwood in their baggage while
passing through emigration checks.
When questioned about the origin of the sandalwood, they said they purchased it from Hyderabad. But none of them were able to produce any sales receipts. The sandalwood logs were wrapped in polythene bags and they weighed a total of 30kg. As students failed to give satisfying answers to the queries of customs officials, they were handed over to the forest department for further interrogation.
All the students were taken to the district forest office in the city by around 8pm. Senior forest officials led by District Forest Officer V Thirunavukarasu are questioning the students. According to forest officials , sandalwood can be purchased only through auctions being conducted by the different state forest authorities. Buying and selling of sandalwood outside forest department auctions remain a punishable offence, they clarified
When questioned about the origin of the sandalwood, they said they purchased it from Hyderabad. But none of them were able to produce any sales receipts. The sandalwood logs were wrapped in polythene bags and they weighed a total of 30kg. As students failed to give satisfying answers to the queries of customs officials, they were handed over to the forest department for further interrogation.
All the students were taken to the district forest office in the city by around 8pm. Senior forest officials led by District Forest Officer V Thirunavukarasu are questioning the students. According to forest officials , sandalwood can be purchased only through auctions being conducted by the different state forest authorities. Buying and selling of sandalwood outside forest department auctions remain a punishable offence, they clarified
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