In this chilly weather, as thousands of tourists have been thronging lake Chilika, fake pearl rackets have reportedly extended their network in the area.
According to reports, fake pearl trading is rampant in the Brahmagiri coast area with a trade of about Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh every day. The mafias are selling the fake pearl by placing plastic marble balls inside the shells of oysters and putting them in water bowls to cheat tourists.
The duplicate gem is reportedly sold at Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000 per piece whose market value is Rs 50 per kg.
The cheating has been reported to police by many foreign tourists before, and the Tourism Department too has filed a complaint regarding this at the Brahmagiri police station.
However, a Home Guard was attacked and critically injured by the mafias, and police had arrested two in this connection and forwarded them to court, but no significant result has been found yet in curbing the menace.