Chhattisgarh police seize diamonds worth Rs 50 lakh, two smugglers held

Two smugglers with diamonds worth Rs 50 lakh were arrested by police in the Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted the smugglers travelling on a grey colour Scooty.

Gariaband (Chhattisgarh):Two smugglers with diamonds worth Rs 50 lakh were arrested by police in the Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off, the smugglers travelling on a grey colour Scooty were intercepted by the police. Police claimed that diamonds worth Rs 50 lakh were seized from the duo in the Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh. The arrested persons belonged to the Navrangpur district in Odisha.

Acting on a tip-off, a trap was laid by Station House Officer (SHO) Shobha. The SHO had information that two persons were looking for potential buyers to sell diamonds and also details about the Scooty on which they were travelling were provided by the police informer. Thereafter, a police team was constituted led by SHO Shobha to nab the duo.

The police team laid a trap at Kushiar Barcha Katchna Dhurva check-post. Police while carrying out the checking drive found two persons riding a grey colour Scooty and the duo after seeing the police became nervous and tried to flee the spot, but the police arrested them. The arrested have been identified as Khokan Dhali and Viplab Dhali and they hail from Navrangpur district under Raigarh police station area of Odisha, police said.

Read:Inter-State diamond smuggling gang busted in Chhattisgarh, two held

SHO Shobha said an FIR (number 10/2022) was registered against the accused under Sections 379, 34 of the IPC and 4(21) of the Mining Act. At least 745 diamond pieces were recovered from their possession. The Scooty and mobile phone were also seized by the police. SP JR Thakur has assured the police team involved in arresting the smugglers that they will get a reward of Rs 25,000.

SP JR Thakur of Gariaband district in Chhattisgarh said the crackdown against smugglers involved in different illegal activities has been going on. Earlier, the action was initiated against culprits under Mining Act, wildlife, narcotics substances and Excise Act. Illegal smuggling of diamonds was often reported from the open cast diamond mining located at Mainpur area in Gariaband district.