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Antiques, precious stones seized

BHUBANESWAR: In a major operation, the city police prevented selling of a 1,000-year-old Buddha statue and a telescope, said to be over 100 years old, by taking four persons into custody.

A night-long operation led by city Deputy Commissioner of Police Himanshu Lal on Sunday resulted in confiscation of bags of precious stones, box made of ivory, six pieces of extremely endangered musk (fragrant substance which is secreted in the gland by a male musk-deer).

Besides, more than 50 old coins, which could belong to different civilisations, were also recovered from the accused. “Acting on a tip-off, we caught one buyer and two sellers red-handed at a city hotel. We seized a Buddha statue and a telescope. We then proceeded to a house, the Sailashree Vihar area of the city, and found precious stones and other material,” Mr. Lal told reporters here on Monday.

One person was taken into custody there, he added. During questioning, the accused claimed that they had procured the Buddha statue, which was very heavy and perched on a mixture of metal, from Nepal, the DCP said, adding that they put its value in the market at Rs. 10.5 lakh.

“Archaeologists are of the opinion that the statue could be 1,000 years old. Its value in the international market is beyond our estimation,” he said.

Similarly, the telescope, which was believed to have been used by the British in the mid-19th century, might have been stolen from any museum or the king’s palace, the DCP said.

The telescope was engraved with Ross London.

Mr. Lal said bags of ruby stone, which was considered as one of the costliest stones, were recovered from the accused.

Besides, several other precious stones, which were yet to be examined, were seized.

The accused were identified as Bhimsen Padhi, K. B Panda, V. Raj Kumar Raju and T. Santosh Kumar.

Padhi was suspected to be the kingpin.

The accused, however, pleaded innocence saying that they had collected the antiques out of curiosity.

The accused would be produced in court on Tuesday, according to the police.

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