Lucknow: Five silver ‘shehnais’ belonging to shehnai maestro, late Bismillah Khan, were stolen from his son Kazim Hussain's residence in which had been locked since the past few days.
The theft was discovered on Sunday night when Kazim Hussain returned home in Dalmandi locality and found the lock of the main gate broken.
“I went in and found that along with the shehnais, some other gifts and awards in precious metals that were given to my father were missing”, he said. Kazim Hussain had gone to visit his ancestral home last month and returned to Varanasi on Sunday night.
Kazim told reporters that the stolen shehnais were special because late Bismillah Khan used to play them especially on the fifth and seventh day of Moharram each year.
One of the shehnais had been gifted to late Bismillah Khan by former Prime Minister Narsimha Rao and the other were given to him by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Congress leader Kapil Sibal and a former pupil.
Kazim Hussain has lodged a complaint with the police that brought a dog squad to the house on Monday. Bismillah Khan, who passed away in 2006, was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001.
