Kochi: Most of the 104 rosewood trees that were cut down and smuggled from Muttil South Village in Wayanad without permission are centuries old, revealed the police report.
A total of 204.635 cubic metres of rosewood worth Rs 8 crore was cut and smuggled out in November and December 2020 and January 2021. The age was calculated on the basis of the DNA test done by collecting samples from the trunks of the trees that were cut down. One of the trees cut down is 574 years old.
As per the status information report by the police, the trees which felled include two that have crossed 500 years, nine that are 400–500 years old, 12 aged 300–400 years, 41 that are between 200–300 years, and 31 trees that have crossed 100 years. The tree felling has adversely affected the ecological balance of Wayanad and pushed it into a natural disaster, experts point out.
Initially, there were 68 accused in the case, including Roji Augustine, Josukutty Augustine, and Anto Augustine, siblings from Vazhavatta. The main accused approached the landowners in Vazhavatta, Kuppadi and Mele Junction areas of Muttil village and wrongly impressed them that the government granted permission to cut the rosewood. The landowners were excluded from the list of accused, as the police were convinced that they had been duped. There are currently 12 accused in the case. The investigation is in its final stages.
An affidavit from the village officer is required for the permission of the Forest Department to ferry out the trees. For this, fake applications were filed in the name of the landowners. In the examination, the handwriting of Roji Augustine was detected in the application. The village officer and the special village officer, who had a good understanding of the trees and royal trees situated in the Pattaya land, reached the spot at the time of the tree felling and measured the timber. According to the police, this led the landlords to believe that the proceedings were legal.
The petitions filed by the accused to quash the case are under the consideration of the High Court. The government contends that the claims that rosewood, which is included in the royal trees, can be cut down if its price is remitted to the government in advance and that the government's permission is not required to cut trees except sandalwood are not true.
Since the village officer is also an accused in the case, there is an argument that there was permission from the village officer to cut the tree. But this argument will not stand, the government said. The investigating team has so far questioned 409 witnesses in the case and seized several documents. All but four wood pieces kept on the premises of the accused were recovered. A petition filed by the Forest Department for granting a search warrant is also pending before the High Court.
