Rourkela, July 5: Police have arrested four persons and seized a vehicle loaded with valuable logs from them.

Yesterday, a Bolero was proceeding towards Jharkhand with over 150cuft of logs. The consignment originated from Sagjori village. The police intercepted the vehicle and arrested Sonu Kansari, 35, Charo Oram, 32, the Bolero driver, Siman Bag, 21, and Mukesh Sahu, 27, the timber smuggler.

On Tuesday, the police had conducted raids and seized over 200cuft of logs.

In both the cases, the police have arrested nine persons so far. They have also seized two vehicles, one Mahinhdra Bolero and a pick up van besides, two bikes.

In yesterday's operation, Kansari and Sahu were the two masterminds, and the police had been keeping tabs on them for a long time. Local people of the Saranda forest nearby say the area is a hunting ground for the timber smugglers.

"Their modus operandi is very simple. First, the pilot bike will come and keep an eye on police movement. Once the bike rider is convinced about the absence of police personnel, he would signal for the vehicle to come," said inspector in charge of Bisra police station Susanta Kumar Das, who is leading the operation against timber smuggling.

The cost of both the seizures is well above Rs 6 lakh.

In Tuesday's operation, Das, along with other personnel, was waiting near Bhalulata. They nabbed the bike rider first and then seized the truck. In that operation, the cops had nabbed Dalas Kujur, 30, the Bolero pick-up van driver of Manorharpur in Jharkhand, Lebo and Sangru Lohar, both 33, Ghanashyama Lohar, 28 and Shankar Sahu.

Shankar, the mastermind behind the smuggling, is from Jharkhand but has settled here and, along with his brother, he owns six buses.