In a major pre-dawn swoop, a contingent of 200 armed policemen Saturday nabbed the alleged kingpin of a major sandalwood and red sander smuggling gang of the South and his son from a village on the city outskirts. The duo was involved in almost all the sandalwood and red sander cutting and smuggling in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Deputy Commissioner of Police of Central Division D Devaraj told reporters.

The gang had stolen sandalwood from the bungalows of the chief secretary, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, the policecommissioner's bungalow and other places, he said. "We have arrested Riyaz and his son Syed Shaikh Ali from their house at Kattigenahalli near Hoskote. They were involved in cutting and transporting sandalwood from government bungalows," the DCP told reporters here.