The arrested person has been identified as Jitendra Kumar Behera.
Acting on a tip-off about the illegal possession of precious stones at Jagannath complex area in the district headquarter town, the crime branch raided the house of the accused.
During the search, two plastic gunny bags containing unfinished gemstones weighing around 153 kg were found from a car of Behera.
The accused failed to submit any licence or required document for possessing the precious stones. Subsequently, he was arrested by the STF.
“The estimated cost of the seized gemstones will be around Rs 1.5 crore,” a senior official said.
“Primary investigation reveals that the accused was about to smuggle the unfinished precious stones to other state. Further investigation is underway,” he added.
