Navi Mumbai: A 33-year-old fisherman was arrested by the Alibaug police, Raigad, for possessing 4 kg of ambergris (whale vomit) estimated to be worth Rs 4 crore. He was caught early Monday riding a bike near the jetty at Chalmala in Thal village, Alibaug taluka.Pravin Pande, senior inspector of Alibaug, said the arrested accused was identified as Rahul Pandharinath Hatani, a resident of Chalmala locality in Thal village. As per the instructions by Raigad SP Anchal Dalal, from the perspective of coastal security, special patrols of the local police station team and home guards were appointed at the jetty and landing point at the coastline.On July 27 around 1.30 am, the patrolling team spotted a man on a scooter hovering suspiciously near the jetty at Chalmala. He was intercepted and questioned by the patrolling police, when he gave an evasive reply. Hence, his scooty dickey was checked and the police found a cloth bag containing 4 kg of ambergris. Hatani claimed that around four months ago, he saw dogs eating whale vomit washed ashore at Chalmala beach. Hence, he scared away the dogs and collected the whale vomit. He had wrapped it in a cloth and kept it in his scooter dickey, but was unable to find any buyer.Pande said, “Since the possession, transportation and sale of whale vomit is a punishable offence under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Hatani was arrested and his custody, along with the seized 4 kg of ambergris worth Rs 4 crore, was handed over to the Alibaug forest department’s Range Forest officer for further legal action.”
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