Diamond, Alexandrite seized from grocery trader

Raipur, Sep 9(UNI) Police arrested a trader and recovered from his possession 17 pieces of diamond and 9 pieces of Alexandrite here last night.

Police said Dinesh Agrawal, who runs a grocery shop at Deobhog in this district, was nabbed after a decoy customer was sent to him in Gudiyari area to strike the deal. However, his accomplice Bhimsen Agrawal managed to escape.

The seized diamonds weighed 52 carats, police said, adding Dinesh Agrawal told the police that he had purchased the rare stones from residents of villages near Deobhog, where diamond-bearing kimberlites had been located.

Commercial mining of the diamond deposits were yet to start in Chhattisgarh.

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