The Hindu : National : Watch gifted to Shastri stolen

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Thursday, Sep 10, 2009
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Watch gifted to Shastri stolen

Ashok Kumar

NEW DELHI: A gold wristwatch gifted to late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri by his then Soviet Union counterpart Aleksei Nikolayevich Kosygin has been stolen from his memorial on Janpath here.

The watch, which was on display in a glass showcase at Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial, went missing on September 3. But the matter was reported to the police four days later, after the memorial authorities failed to locate it during an internal probe.

“We received a complaint in this regard two days ago. It is a matter of investigation as to why the authorities took four days to report the theft. We are also studying the security mechanism at the memorial and the role of the guards and the other staff,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Shankar Dash.

The police have also searched the premises and lifted fingerprints from the glass case.

Recalling his association with the watch, the former Prime Minister’s son Anil Shastri said: “It was gifted to Shastriji during his visit to Moscow in 1965. It was on his return to India that he realised that it was a golden watch. He then called me and asked whether I would like to wear it. He said that it was very costly and he could not wear it. I wore it on and off for 40 years and donated it to the memorial when it was opened in 2005.”

Mr. Shastri said an unidentified couple and a man had spent “more than the usual time” at the memorial the day the theft took place. “The gallery attendants told me that a couple and a young man spent over an hour in the memorial, though an average visitor spends 20-25 minutes only. It is possible that they could be involved,” he said.

The watch had a distinct look and could easily be identified, Mr. Shastri added. “I believe that it can be recovered easily if the police make sincere efforts. It has a unique look and can easily be differentiated from other common watches.”

Mr. Shastri alleged that the security arrangements at the memorial were inadequate.

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