Thieves strike at judge's house, axe & steal sandalwood trees

A gang of five thieves struck at the residence of a district court judge here and chopped off four sandalwood trees from the premises before decamping with the logs, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, police said, adding that the thieves cut the trees after threatening the judge's police guard at gunpoint.

The police guard, Budhi Lal Kol, lodged a complaint with the police in this regard.

"As per the complaint, one of the thieves first entered district and sessions court judge Arun Kumar Singh's bungalow in Civil Lines area on the intervening night of November 14 and 15. He threatened Kol with a country-made pistol. Soon, four other accomplices joined him and held the guard captive," City Superintendent of Police Shivendra Singh told PTI.

"Within 10 minutes, the accused cut the sandalwood trees and fled with the logs. Total four guards, including Kol, were stationed at different locations at the bungalow when the incident took place. However, the thieves did not harm anyone," he said.

Police said the judge and his family members were asleep when the incident took place.

According to Singh, police suspect that the accused were from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj, which is home to several manufacturing units of incense sticks and perfumes.

"In the past, Rewa police had arrested some people from Kannauj for cutting and stealing sandalwood trees from the city," the CSP said.

"Sandalwood is used in making incense sticks and perfume. The cost of the trees stolen from the judge's house could be around Rs 3 to 5 lakh," he said.

Singh said that police have registered a case in this connection and launched a search to catch the accused.