Sk Baba Khadir Vali, deputy forest range officer, anti-poaching squad, said, the corals are dead and tests have confirmed that they are indigenous. Dead hard corals, which looks like stone, are being used illegally to make hollow blocks and a number of other articles because of their stone-like nature.

Seth, managing director of the aquarium, is said to be out of town. In-charge director Pradeep Mati was taken into custody. “We will arrest Pradeep Seth once he is back,” said Vali. The aquarium,inaugurated by Goa chief minister in April, highlights marine life of Goa coast, with rare varieties of fish, including star fish.