Rasuwa: Just when the local administration found that smugglers use the new transit point to Tibet in Rasuwagadi Pass to smuggle red sandalwood to China, it has also been discovered that helicopters have been used to ferry the contraband timber to villages near the China border during Dasain.

The local administration has made it mandatory to get permission before flying to any destination in Rasuwa district. We want to prevent smuggling by air," said district SP Achyut Pudasaini. Police has strengthened its presence in Syabru and Timure to monitor flights.

Even so, locals say that choppers loaded with sandalwood were landed in the Malaghadi forest of Thumman village during Dasai. "When we went to see the helicopter, we noticed they were unloading sandalwood," said a local who wished not to be named.

The government recalled SP Om Rana, Colonel Ramji Thapa of the Nepal Army and the CDO for helping the sandalwood smugglers in May. The army has since sacked Col Thapa.