The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested two persons from the Kolkata airport with over Rs 4250 crore worth of Californium, an expensive radioactive metal.
Acting on a tip-off CID officers arrested Sailan Karmakar (41) and Asit Ghosh (49) on Wednesday and seized four pieces of ash-coloured stones weighing about 250 grams from their possession.
"During the preliminary enquiry, it was revealed that the seized articles might be Californium, which is a radioactive metal.," according to officials.
The cost of Californium is estimated to be about Rs 17 crore per gram.
According to officials, the stones sparkled in the dark with light reflecting from them. It also appeared to be filled with minerals.
The synthetic radioactive element not found in nature has a variety of uses, including in nuclear reactors and to detect gold and silver ores and are also used in devices that can detect water and oil-bearing layers in oil wells.
( With inputs from ANI )
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