Baheragora police busted a smuggling gang dealing in precious stones by arresting three alleged smugglers and seizing emeralds weighing 1.095 kg worth ₹1.50 crore, police said on Sunday.
“The SSP had a tip-off that some persons have gathered at PWD Chowk in Baheragora with smuggled emeralds. A team headed by Ghatshila SDPO was formed and it found three persons on two two-wheelers standing near the Baheragora bus stand late Saturday evening. Subsequent search led to seizure of 1095 grams of emerald pieces in a plastic bag inside the dicky of a scooty. Three smartphones, another motorcycle and ₹2,300 cash were seized along with the smuggled emeralds from Murakati hillocks under Gudabandha police station (PS), Shubham Khandelwal, Jamshedpur rural SP, told the media here on Saturday.
Khandelwal further informed that the arrested smugglers had been identified as 50-year-old Vinay Patar, 45-year-old Siddheshwar Kalindi and 44-year-old Snehashish Mangraj.
“Main accused Vinay Patar has previous criminal records and has a case pending against him in Baheragora PS since 2018. Patar and Siddheshwar Kalindi hail from Murakati under Gudabandha PS while Snehashish Mangraj hails from Shyamsunderpur. A case has been registered against the accused under the relevant sections of BNS, Indian Forest Act-1927, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act-1957 and Antiquities and Art Treasures Act-1972. Further investigation is ongoing to bust the entire racket and network,” said Khandelwal.
