Nagpur: Some unidentified miscreants cut down a sandalwood tree in the premises of Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court in the wee hours of Friday. The persons then tried to steal the tree, but their attempt was foiled. The attempt took place in the very high security zone of the High Court, which is guarded by 20-25 cops round the clock, media reports said.
It is reported that two persons sporting black clothes and wearing black masks felled the 30-foot high sandalwood tree with the help of a chain-saw at 4.20 am. The tree is located very close to the police kiosk near the main gate, still the cops did not realise for some time that it was being cut. It was only when the thieves were dragging the tree away after cutting it from the base of the trunk that the police were alerted due to the noise and raised an alarm. The thieves then fled from the spot. The cops on duty lodged a complaint at Sadar Police Station.
Senior police inspector at Sadar Vinod Chaudhary said they had registered a case and started investigations. There are a large number of CCTV cameras in the HC as well as in the Civil Lines area. We are going through the footage of all cameras to track the culprits, he said.
Police said the thieves must have gained entry into the premises by climbing the wall. They would have got away with the theft had the police had not heard the dragging sound. A couple of years ago, thieves had stolen a sandalwood tree from the high security area at Raj Bhavan, and then from Maharajbagh too, they said.
