By Tim Binnall
Authorities in India arrested a pair of ne'er-do-wells who were trying to sell what they claimed was a mermaid's eye imbued with magical powers. According to a local media report, the odd bust occurred on Thursday in the city of Hyderabad after police caught wind of the two men and their wondrous offering. Cops say that the duo told prospective buyers that they had obtained the mermaid's eye from "a holy man" and were asking for a staggering $240,000 in order to part with the 'life-changing' object.
Before anyone could get duped by the ruse, police swooped in and arrested the two men for attempting to pull off the fraud. Authorities also seized the alleged mermaid's eye and demystified it fairly quickly as an examination of the object (seen below) revealed it to be a cleverly crafted stone that had "a small bulb fixed in it." When placed in water, the 'organ' illuminated in a manner that an unwitting individual might imagine the eye of a mermaid would when swimming in the depths of the ocean.