nA 40-year-old man was arrested on Thursday on charges of smuggling 400 pieces of rough diamonds valued at `10 lakh in Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund district.
Speaking to The Pioneer over telephone, Mahasamund Superintendent of Police Prafull Kumar Thakur identified the smuggler as Bharat Bhoi of Teka village in the district.
On receiving a tip that the accused was looking for customers to sell the rough diamonds, a team of Pithora police swung into action, Thakur said.
The accused was nabbed near an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) located on the National Highway-53 in the district.
Police seized 400 pieces of diamonds weighing 9.56 grams valued at `10 lakh from him, the officer said.
Prima facie, it seems he had illegally brought the diamonds from Payalikhand, a diamond-rich belt in neighbouring Gariaband district’s Deobhog area, he said.