Pune City police have arrested five persons for allegedly smuggling Ambergris or Whale Vomit.
Police have identified the accused persons as Rakesh Korde (28), Navaz Kurupkar (24), Ajim Kazi (50), all three from Dapoli in Ratnagiri district, and Vijay Thange (56) and Akshay Thanage (26) of Dhankawadi in Pune. Police have recovered Ambergris worth Rs 5 crores from them.
Ambergis is a costly, waxy substance originating from the digestive system of sperm whales and used in making high-end perfumes.
The accused were nabbed at 6pm on Monday after a police team, acting on a tip-off of assistant police inspector Kalyani Padole of the Deccan police station, laid a trap near the Fergusson College bus stop.
During searches, cops recovered 2.994 kilograms of Ambergris, estimated at Rs 2.99 crore, from Korde and 2.286 kilograms of Ambergris worth Rs 2.28 crore from Kurupkar. Cops also seized a motorcycle from Vijay Thange.
Whales are protected species under schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act and possession or trade of any of its by-products, including Ambergris, is illegal.
Police have booked the accused persons under sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Probe is on to find out from where they procured the Ambergris. Police suspect the accused persons were planning to sell the Ambergris to some customers in the city, stated a press release issued by senior police inspector Murlidhar Karpe.