Chennai: In a shocking breach of security, 1.78 tonnes of Red Sanders logs have been stolen from the forest department’s godown in Tiruppattur, exposing lapses in the safekeeping of one of the state’s most valuable natural resources.A senior official from the forest department said the missing logs were classified as C-grade quality, wood valued at over ₹75 lakh per tonne, pushing the total worth of the theft into the crores.The Tiruppattur godown serves as the principal storage facility for Red Sanders confiscated from across Tamil Nadu, currently holding nearly 1,000 tonnes of B- and C-grade logs.One of the sources in the department said four forest guards were on night duty, and the incident on Saturday. Two vehicles came into the depot and the stacked logs were loaded into the vehicles. They fled the scene immediately.Sixteen CCTV cameras were installed around the godown, of which only nine are working. Due to space constraints, the logs were kept outside the buildings, the source said.This marks only the second time that precious wood has gone missing from the depot in nearly three decades. The last such loss dates back to Sept 1997, when a fire at a depot destroyed more than 3,300 tonnes of heartwood.In the last two years, two major thefts were reported in the forest department. The first incident was the theft of about one tonne of ivory, stored in the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur. This was in Sept 2024.A senior official said some of the staff working in Tiruppattur were involved in a similar incident a few years ago. Investigations at that time showed the involvement of the then assistant conservator of forests, who was placed under suspension. Strict action needs to be taken, he said.Head of forest force (HoFF) Srinivas R Reddy said: “We are investigating all possible angles, probing whether any gang was involved in the incident, or a group of illegal traders. We have already filed a police complaint and an FIR has been issued. Four guards and a range officer have already been placed under suspension. Action will be taken if the involvement of higher officials in the district is proved.”
