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Racket in smuggling of antiques unearthed in Jaipur
Jaipur, June 15: Rajasthan Police today claimed to have busted a racket in smuggling of antiques, mostly idols stolen from temples, to Europe and America and arrested seven persons, including its kingpin, in this connection,.
Jaipur, June 15: Rajasthan Police today claimed to have busted a racket in smuggling of antiques, mostly idols stolen from temples, to Europe and America and arrested seven
persons, including its kingpin, in this connection,.
Local handicraft dealer V N Ghiya was arrested here
recently and 17 statues stolen from temples for smuggling
abroad were recovered from him, SP (Jaipur north) Anand
Srivastava said.
Six more, including a handicraft dealer from Delhi and an idol lifter from Uttar Pradesh, were also arrested in connection with the racket, he said.
A number of photographs of antique pieces and catalogues of big international auction houses, including Sotheby, were also recovered from possession of Ghiya, believed to be kingpin of the racket, the SP said.
The arrested persons were operating the racket for over a decade, he said.
Srivastava said police had so far traced six antiques, stolen from Rajasthan and sold to buyers in Europe and America.
Four of them were sold by Sotheby in late '90s while the two were traced to individual collectors in London and Zurich, he said.
Four idols listed in Sotheby's catalogues were stolen from Taneshwar temple in Udaipur, the SP said.
The two idols traced to individual collectors included a tall sandstone idol of Lord Natraj lifted from a temple at Baroli in Chittoregarh in February 1998.
The SP said the antique smugglers were expert in creating exact replica of idols which they used to place them in temples after lifting the original ones.
Bureau Report
Six more, including a handicraft dealer from Delhi and an idol lifter from Uttar Pradesh, were also arrested in connection with the racket, he said.
A number of photographs of antique pieces and catalogues of big international auction houses, including Sotheby, were also recovered from possession of Ghiya, believed to be kingpin of the racket, the SP said.
The arrested persons were operating the racket for over a decade, he said.
Srivastava said police had so far traced six antiques, stolen from Rajasthan and sold to buyers in Europe and America.
Four of them were sold by Sotheby in late '90s while the two were traced to individual collectors in London and Zurich, he said.
Four idols listed in Sotheby's catalogues were stolen from Taneshwar temple in Udaipur, the SP said.
The two idols traced to individual collectors included a tall sandstone idol of Lord Natraj lifted from a temple at Baroli in Chittoregarh in February 1998.
The SP said the antique smugglers were expert in creating exact replica of idols which they used to place them in temples after lifting the original ones.
Bureau Report