Stolen Indian antiquities found in US museum

Honolulu: An international investigation into antiquities looted from India and smuggled into the United States has taken authorities to the Honolulu Museum of Art.

The museum on Wednesday handed over seven rare artifacts that it acquired without museum officials realising they were ill-gotten items.  Agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will take the items back to New York and, from there, eventually return them to the government of India.

US customs agents say the items were taken from religious temples and ancient Buddhist sites, and then allegedly smuggled to the US by ‘an art dealer’. The dealer, Subhash Kapoor, was arrested in 2011 and is awaiting trial in India.

Officials say Mr Kapoor created false provenances for the illicit antiquities. Someone on vacation visiting the museum last year recognised the name of Mr Kapoor’s New York gallery as the source of a 2,000-year-old terra cotta rattle and contacted authorities, said Stephan Jost, museum’s director.

Museum officials then pored over their records and determined six other Indian items had ties to Mr Kapoor.