5 held in illegal elephant pearl deal

ELEPHANT PEARLS ARE STONES PRODUCED IN THE HEADS AND SOCKETS OF THE TUSKS OF SOME ELEPHANTS

MUMBAI: The Oshiwara police, on Friday, arrested five persons from an Andheri apartment for their alleged involvement in the illegal sale of elephant pearls.
Elephant pearls or ‘Gajamukta’ are brownish white stones produced in the heads and sockets of the tusks of some elephants.
Police said they had received a tip-off regarding the deal, following which they raided an apartment of Manish Tower in Oshiwara on Friday. They recovered three elephant pearls, being sold for Rs2 lakh.

The sellers were Sandeep Mehta, 48, and Lalit Desai, 40 — both residents of Gujarat — and the buyers have been identified as Raj Divedi, Mohammed Shaikh and Kamlesh Visav. The deal was being struck at one of the trio’s residence, police said.
“The sellers claimed they have had the pearls for 4 years, but do not have the requisite documents. We are investigating the source of the pearls,” said an official.
The police said the buyers have not yet revealed how they got in touch with the duo. The police would seek expert opinion to estimate the real value of the pearls which, if original, are worth crores of rupees.