Hyderabad: Antique thieves stole 30 priceless artefacts — sculptures, silver items, dagger with ivory handle and others — from protected monuments, sites and museums across the country including in Andhra Pradesh, during the past five years.
The stolen items have remained untraced. These are from monuments under the purview of the ASI, and do not account for art theft that takes place elsewhere.
The Archaeological Survey of India has lodged FIRs with the police but barring one case where partial recovery was made, the other items have vanished.
In some cases there are no photographs of the stolen antiquities, which makes investigation and recovery difficult.
Karnataka accounts for the largest number of thefts during the five-year period with four items each stolen in 2013, 2014 and one in 2015.
In Andhra Pradesh, thieves stole a Nandi sculpture from an ancient Sivalayam in the Vishnu and Mukteswara Swamy temple complex in Peddamudiyam in Kadapa district on the intervening night of May 17/18, 2011. There is no photograph available of the sculpture.
A stone bud portion (flower decoration) was knocked away from the mahamandapam of the Soumyanatha Swamy temple, Nandaluru, in Kadapa district on June 3, 2011, and an FIR was lodged. So far, both the priceless items haven’t been traced.
In 2015, a schist stone Yaksha sculpture was stolen from the Bhimeshwara temple at Neelgunda of Davanagere district in Karnataka as was a sculpture of Trivikrama of Trivikrama (locally known as Bali) from the Varahanatha temple, Jajpur, Odisha.
In 2014, Bihar had one robbery. In 2013, Chhattisgarh one; in 2012 Assam had one major theft, Tamil Nadu one, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi one each.
In 2011, Andhra Pradesh recorded two thefts, Madhya Pradesh one; and in 2010, West Bengal had one theft and Rajasthan two.
In Madhya Pradesh, thieves stole a sculptural panel of Dashavatara, including a figure of Vishnu made of sand stone from Dharmarajeshawar temple and Buddhist caves in Chandwasa village of Garoth tehsil of Mandsour district in the intervening night of September 6/7, 2011.
Police recovered two parts of the panel, but the figure of Vishnu is missing. No theft has been reported in Telangana state and other states.
“Antiquities theft is the work of organised gangs. These priceless articles fetch huge prices in the international market. We have to protect our art, culture and history. Such thefts are treated as per IPC. New legislation is in the offing,’’ a senior ASI official told Deccan Chronicle.
Three silver antiquity objects, Alam Panja, were stolen from the religious gallery at the Hazarduari Palace, Museum, in Murshidabad, West Bengal in 2010.
A dagger with ivory handle was stolen from the Indian War Memorial Museum, Red Fort, New Delhi on December 21, 2012. It remains untraced to date. There are at present more than 3,650 ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance under Archaeological Society of India.
