Raipur:
Three people were on Thursday arrested in Chhattisgarh's Gariyaband district for allegedly smuggling diamonds, police said.
Forty pieces of diamonds and Rs 9.38 lakh cash were seized from their possession, they said.
"Acting on a tip-off, two men, Brijomohan Dhakad (44) and Ravishankar Dhakad (32), residents of Odisha, were arrested and their SUV was seized this morning from Indagaon police station limits of the district. Eight pieces of diamonds, besides cash Rs 18,000 were recovered from their possession," Gariyaband Superintendent of Police Ramgopal Garg told PTI.
During interrogation, they admitted their involvement in smuggling and said they had purchased the diamonds from Lakhan Sahu, a native of Indagaon village.
The accused were allegedly smuggling diamonds to Odisha from the diamond-rich belt of Deobhog locality in Gariyaband district, which lies at 150 kms away from the state capital Raipur.
Later, Lakhan (47) was arrested and 32 pieces of diamond and cash Rs 9.20 lakh were recovered from his
possession, the SP said.
"We have given the seized diamonds to the mining department to ascertain its market value," Garg said, adding the market value of the diamonds seized from Dhakad is estimated to be around Rs two lakh.
