1.365-kg ambergris worth Rs 2 crore seized from Valsad

Following a tip-off, forest officers laid a trap in the parking lot of a hotel on National Highway 48 near the Navsari grid area. At the parking lot, they found that four persons, travelling in two cars, were searching for customers. They were questioned and the officers seized 5 gm of ambergris from their possession.

The accused were identified as Bhavin Patel from Ghej village in Navsari, Milan Patel from Dhanori village in Valsad as well as Vishal Patel and Vinay Halpati from Valoti village in Navsari. They were arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and their cars seized from the spot.

Following their interrogation, the officers on Thursday raided a house at Utadi village in Valsad looking for Pinakin Patel, who had delivered the ambergris to the four arrested men. While he could not be found, a search of his house led to the seizure of 1.36 kg of ambergris.

Range Forest Officer of Navsari social forestry department, Heenaben Patel, said, “Pinakin is absconding and we are making efforts to locate him… We have sent the sample to the ambergris seized to the Geological Survey of India for testing. We are also looking for others who might be involved in the racket.”