Bhawanipatna (Odisha), Jul 13 (PTI) The Special Task Force of Odisha Police and the local police, during a joint raid, have seized precious stones worth several crores from the possession of a man, a police officer said on Monday. Unpolished ruby and emerald weighing 3.2 quintal were seized from the house of one Sujit Meher of Palas village in Kalahandi district on Sunday following which he was arrested, the officer said.

The value of the gemstones will be around Rs 3 crore, a STF member said. "However an actual valuation should be done by technical persons," he said.

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Meher is being interrogated about the mines from which the gemstones were brought and the marketing chain.

"A case has been registred at Junagarh police station, in this regard under Odisha Mineral Prevention of Theft and Smuggling Act," the STF member said.

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The police had been investigating the illegal gemstone mining operation which was allegedly going on in the area for quite some time.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)