POLICE in the city are in an unenviable position as sandalwood trees continue to be the target of thieves who smuggle them to Kerala, from where they are taken to other states. This despite various measures taken by them to bust the smuggler gangs. Police sources said some time back there were factories in Kerala making oil from sandalwood smuggled from Tamil Nadu, but as the Kerala Government has banned production of sandalwood oil, the smugglers clandestinely transport the logs to other states through Kerala. According to a top police official, sandalwood thieves are very active in the city because there are a lot of sandalwood trees in private, poromboke and government land. In fact, the police have already conducted a survey and identified 480 places where sandalwood trees are present in the city, and the trees are being protected with the help of night beat policemen. There are also pointbooks in over 100 places, which ensure the inspection of trees by policemen during night. Despite all these steps, a three-member gang felled a tree near the residence of a Deputy Commissioner of Police at Race Course in the wee hours of Wednesday. But the attempt to smuggle the tree was foiled by an alert watchman. It may be recalled that police are still struggling to recover the pistol stolen by a sandalwood smuggling gang who attacked three policemen at Bharathi Park a few months ago. Though the police managed to arrest some of the gang members, the pistol is still missing. Now, after the Wednesday incident, the police are planning to intensify night beats with the help of Friends of Police. ''If there are more police men on the roads, thieves will get scared,'' said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Rajendran, while talking to Express. However, a tree cannot be watched round-theclock and it can be cut in no time, he added.