The West Bengal Crime Investigation Department in India has arrested two persons from an area near the Kolkata airport for illegal possession of radioactive substances, a media report said Thursday.
The report quoted a senior Indian officer as saying that the substances cost 4,250 crore Indian rupees.
Acting on a tip-off from a person, who was apparently approached by the duo for the sale of the four pieces of radioactive material, a CID team arrested them, the Indian officer said.
One of the four pieces seized is suspected to be Californium, which has several practical uses and costs something around 170 crore Indian rupees for one gram, the Indian police sources said.
"The duo claimed that they bought the radioactive substances, which weighed 250 gra,s in all, from someone in Karnataka, after chancing upon him on social media," the officer added.
The two accused have been arrested under the Atomic Energy Act and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code, the CID officer said.