Four people were arrested after rough diamonds weighing 289 carats and worth Rs 9 lakh were seized from them in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, police said on Sunday.
Experts have termed the diamonds as industrial grade, used not for jewellery but in drill bits and saws for cutting and making holes into a variety of strong surfaces, an official added.
"Acting on a tip-off that some men were moving about suspiciously to sell precious stones, we carried out a raid and arrested the accused on Saturday night from near a food court in Kotwali police station area in Jagdalpur town," said Dhananjay Sinha, Station House Officer (SHO) Kotwali.
"A gemstone expert has said the diamonds are industrial grade. He has put the value at around Rs 8-9 lakh. Initial probe has revealed the accused may have got the diamonds from a mine in neighbouring Odisha," Sinha added.
He identified the four as Govind Chandra Nayak, a native of Odisha, and Ramesh Humne, Sandip Sahu and Narendra Thakur of Bastar district here.
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