The raids in Buldhana followed the arrest of a former minister and a bureaucrat for allegedly allowing the illegal operations to keep going.
Surupsingh Naik, who had formerly held the posts of forest minister and transport minister, and additional secretary Ashok Khot, were both given one-month prison sentences for contempt after violating forest protection rules.
All unlicensed sawmills were ordered to shut down by an apex court in 1997.
But it is estimated that out of the 5,000-plus sawmills in Maharashtra more than 1,000 are still unlicensed, with another 350 illegal operations.
