Bangalore University has lost over 36 sandalwood trees at its Jnana Bharati campus in a span of just five days. As per the complaint filed with the JB campus police, the trees were stolen between April 12 and 16.

The copy of the complaint available with The New Indian Express says, "The sandalwood trees of the Bio Park located at JB campus near the vice chancellor's residence have been stolen by unknown miscreants."
As mentioned in the complaint, on April 12, over 13 sandalwood trees were stolen near the vice-chancellor's residence in front of the horticulture department gate. And again on April 15, 50 metres from that spot, over 16 sandalwood trees went missing. On April 16, about 100 metres from Panchavati park, another 10 sandalwood trees were stolen.

University officials said, "There is security in place and even the police and fire station are a few metres away from the Bio Park. We wonder how the thieves could enter the campus." They suspect the involvement of insiders in the incident. "We don't know how outsiders got to know exactly where the sandalwood trees have grown in the campus, as it is 1,000 acres huge," said a senior official of BU.
"As there are no compounds or fencing for the campus, people can enter easily. We have seen public inside the campus late at night. No one stops public vehicles from entering the campus at night. We are scared to stay in the hostels," said a student staying at the campus hostel.

Recently, an RTI revealed that over 36 sandalwood trees went missing from BU campus last year. This time, it is 36 trees stolen within a week. A senior official of BU said, "We are not aware about the complaint filed by the bio park coordinator. Recently, we filed an FIR on 36 trees stolen in the last one year. We will get details about the same."