Police on Saturday arrested five men and recovered 12.5 tonnes of anode slime, a high value by-product of copper produced by Sterlite plant here.
Valued at about Rs. 47 crore, the by-product — an alloy of gold, silver and palladium — was kept in 34 drums in a trucker.
Addressing mediapersons, Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Tirunelveli Range) Sumit Sharan said the product was loaded in a container on March 19 and transported to the port in Tuticorin. The consignment was loaded in the feeder vessel the next day. It reached the Colombo port on March 21 to be loaded into mother vessel, MV Evergreen, on April 1. The consignment reached Jebel Ali port Dubai six days later. It was transported by a truck on April 10 to the Fujairah gold plant. When the container was opened by representatives of the gold plant in the presence of a Customs officer, it was found that the consignment was different from the originally packed one at the Sterlite plant in Tuticorin. The company lodged a complaint with Superintendent of Police, Tuticorin. On June 5, a special team began an investigation and detained four of the culprits. Superintendent of Police M. Durai said the prime accused, Mohideen Kadar is yet to be nabbed.
