COIMBATORE: The strange request shocked even the tough men in khaki, who were anxiously waiting for the arrival of a minister to inaugurate the new police station at Sulthanpet. “Register a case against me. I have cut down a sandalwood tree, which is illegal,” said the man, who arrived at the venue on a moped carrying several sandalwood logs on Sunday morning.A posse of police officers including inspector general of police (west zone) A Pari, deputy inspector general of police (Coimbatore range) G Karthikeyan and district superintendent of police Pa Moorthy were waiting for rural development minister SP Velumani to inaugurate the new police station. Several local residents were also gathered at the place.That is when Mohanraj , a 49-year-old farmer from Kanthampalayam, turned up with 10kg of sandalwood. The officers were all excited to receive the farmer, who they thought, had come to lodge the first complaint in the brand new station. But, soon their excitement turned into a mix of amusement and shock, when the farmer told them that he had cut down a sandalwood tree on his farm land and requested them to register a case against him.As the excitement drained, the policemen tried to hush up the matter as it was time for the minister to arrive. But, Mohanraj was not ready to leave. The officers asked him to follow them and kept him inside a police vehicle, away from the venue.The farmer told reporters that he had sold 400kg sandalwood to the sandalwood depot at Sathyamangalam five years ago with the permission of the Coimbatore forest department officials. “Ever since, I have been running from pillar to post to get the money for the sandalwood. So, to draw the attention of the officials concerned, I chopped down another sandalwood tree,” he said.Finally, the officers received a petition from the farmer and issued a community service registrar ( CSR ). They promised him that they would take up the issue with the forest department.Minister Velumani arrived later and inaugurated the new police station.

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