24 June,2009 08:56 AM IST | | Prawesh Lama
Two-century-old idols stolen from Madhya Pradesh recovered
Antiques have always been the cynosure of evil's eye. This time, too, a gang of young men was trying to lay hands on two-century-old idols of Madhya Pradesh temple, for a sum of Rs 80 lakh. But couldn't succeed. On Monday evening, two persons were arrested by the crime branch of Delhi police while selling the two antique idols in Maharani Bagh of south Delhi.
The two have been identified as Suresh, 20, and Nepal Singh, 30. According to the police, the gang kingpin Gurdeep Singh, who hails from Haryana, allegedly has links with the gangs in Madhya Pradesh, dealing in antique items. Gurdeep procured the two antique idols from his contacts, and later handed it to Suresh and Nepal to sell them in Delhi and promised a commission according to the deal.
"The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has confirmed that the two idols were genuine and could be termed as antiques. Gurdeep, depending on the amount the two will strike a deal, promised commission ranging from thousands to lakhs," said a senior police official.
"During interrogation, it had become clear that the accused in the capital, had links with the dealers in Madhya Pradesh, who stole century-old idols," added the official.
The police said that they received information regarding the deal and accordingly laid the trap. "We posed as customers and fixed the deal to purchase both idols for Rs 80 lakh. The idol of Lord Mahavira was fixed at a price of Rs 50 lakh while the stone sculpture of the ninth century was fixed at Rs 30 lakh. The two were nabbed red-handed in Maharani Bagh," said a senior police officer.u00a0
Suresh is a Class 12 student of Open University while Nepal is into real estate business. Both are the residents of Delhi. A case under Section 411/34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 14(3), 17, 25(2) of the Antiquity and Art Treasure Act has been registered.
