Theft of ancient relics from temples continues unabated

In the last three years, 13 cases of thefts were reported

Representative image | AFP Representative image | AFP

The theft of artefacts from temples and historical monuments continues unabated. In the last three years, 13 such cases were reported from the country, the government informed the parliament.

The government, however, said no instance of sale of the stolen property through online auction could be detected. It said in the past a complaint related to online auction of a Jain idol by Saffronart  website came to light. The complaint was investigated by the CBI but could not be established.

Culture minister Mahesh Sharma said the government had managed to bring back 17 antiquities from the US in the last three years. “ASI is responsible only for retrieval of antiquities. All artefacts may not be antiquities but all the antiquities are artefacts. Till date, 17 antiquities which are also artefacts have been returned from the US after June 2016,” Sharma told the Lok Sabha on Monday.

He added that two antiquities—Saint Manikkavichavakar (Sambanthar), and Ganesha—have been handed over to Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu Police and one male figure in stone has been sent to Khajuraho Museum. The remaining objects are still in the custody of Archaeological Survey of India. These had gone abroad through illegal means in the past.

The minister also gave the details of artefacts thefts from the country. The last theft reported was in November 2017, when a  stone sculpture of Nandi dated 11th-12th century was allegedly stolen from Sri Anadavalli Ammavaru Temple at Gudimallam in Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

In other cases, five idols were stolen in 2015 from Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra and Bihar, for which cases have been registered. These included a Yaksha sculpture, a sculpture of Trivikrama and a Kapilas sculpture, all of which are dated 11th-12th century A.D.

In 2016, six cases of antiquity thefts were reported from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.

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