India: DRI to Auction Blood Diamonds

Apr 1, 2015 | The Times of India
View Original

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has decided to auction Rs 3.85 crore worth of illicit diamonds seized from two smugglers in 2008. Official sources said blood diamonds worth Rs 3.85 crore were seized during an operation by the DRI against two Lebanese nationals-Robai Hussain and Yusuf Ossely-in September 2008 in the city. Both were arrested in the first ever diamond smuggling case cracked by the DRI. The term blood diamond or conflict diamond refers to diamonds mined under conditions of gross human rights abuse, and was popularized by American movie 'Blood Diamond'. It starred Leonardo DiCaprio, a mercenary turned do-gooder in the blood-soaked diamond fields of Sierra Leone.