510 Gram Emerald-Like Stone, Rs 7 Lakh Cash Seized From Jharkhand House

The East Singhbhum police along with the district administration seized an unpolished emerald-like stone and over Rs 7.80 lakh in cash during a raid in a village under Ghatsila sub-division of Jharkhand, an official statement said.

Hathiapata village, where the seizure took place on Sunday, is in Gorabandha block known for its emerald deposits. It is an erstwhile stronghold of the left wing extremists and there were reports that the precious stone were mined illegally earlier.

The uncut stone weighed 510 gm and was impounded along with 190 gm of another material that looked like soil and was stored in a plastic bag. A mobile phone besides the cash was also seized from the house during the raid, the block development officer-cum-circle officer Smita Nageshia said.

The house owner could not produce any valid document related to the seized stone. The man, however, said that his son is engaged in illegal mining of emerald and deals in gemstones, she said.

A subsequent examination of the seized mobile phone revealed photographs and videographs of emerald, she added.

The son is missing and a case was instituted against him. A hunt was also launched to apprehend him, Nageshia, who conducted the raid, said.

Asked, she said "We are sending the seized items to the state geological laboratory in Hazaribagh for examination." The BDO said a team from Ranchi had recently conducted to assess the deposit of precious gemstones in Gorabandha. The report is awaited.

District deputy commissioner Vijaya Jadhav directed the officers concerned to initiate action against people involved in illegal mining of precious stones in the area.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)