RM42K carat meal: Man steals and swallows diamond

Sri Lankan stall owner Suresh de Silva shows a 1.5 carat diamond similar to a stone a Chinese man stole from him at the start of a gem and jewellery exhibition in Colombo.


Sri Lankan police arrested a Chinese tourist suspected of swallowing a 1.5 carat diamond worth 1.8 million rupees (RM42,000) on Wednesday at the island nation's biggest international gem and jewellery exhibition.

Chow Cheng, 32, is believed to have swallowed the diamond as he inspected it at the exhibition, attended by buyers from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, India and Europe, police said.

Suresh Christopher Wijekoon, owner of the exhibition stall, said Chow had tried to switch the original diamond with a synthetic one. "He realised that I noticed it. Then he immediately swallowed it," Wijekoon told Reuters.

"His intention was to steal it," Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana told Reuters. "The x-ray shows the diamond is in his throat." Chow was taken to the Colombo National Hospital and given a dose of laxatives.

Sri Lanka is famed for its blue sapphires, diamonds and a jewellery industry that accounted for US$532 million of its export revenue in 2011.

Source: Reuters