A 24-year-old man has been arrested on charges of smuggling 86 pieces of rough diamonds valued at Rs 11.31 lakhs in Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district.
Speaking to The Pioneer over telephone on Saturday, Gariaband Additional Superintendent of Police Sukhnandan Rathore identified the man as Navambar Nagesh of Kandekela village.
Acting on a tip, he was caught near a hotel at Jhariabahra village in the Mainpur police station area on Friday night. He was looking for customers for the rough diamonds.
The police recovered 86 rough diamonds of different sizes from an envelope. A motorcycle and a mobile phone were also seized from him, Rathore said.
The accused had illegally brought the diamonds, the officer said.
So far, police have seized 660 pieces of rough diamonds worth Rs 85.91 lakhs in six cases in the district in the last one year.
