Patna, September 26
In a daring late-night robbery on Monday in Patna Museum, located in the heart of the city, unidentified miscreants stole 18 statues of Buddhist and Jain eras worth crores of rupees.
The police said that the miscreants had broken the backside grill of the museum to steal these relics of immense historical importance.
A high-level team of CID and police is now camping in Patna Museum to investigate the matter.
The IG (Hq) Mr Anil Sinha did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of international
smugglers in antiques behind the robbery. “While the robbery was by professional miscreants, this might well be planted by smugglers who were aware of the values of these ancient relics in international market”, he said.
The police said they were also probing whether any staff of the museum was involved. “This suspicion was gaining ground in view of the manner in which the
miscreants had broken the showcase inside the museum where these relics were being kept as exhibits for the visitors”, sources said.
The museum Director, Mr S. Singh, has handed over the place to the police for investigation and the building will remain closed for visitors till the probe is complete.
The police also raided different hotels in the city during the day to find out the lists and names of the guests in the last two days.
The authorities of Patna Museum informed that the building was being guarded by four security personnel in the night which was much less than the required strength to man the precious exhibits within the museum.
The holy urn of Lord Buddha was also being kept inside the museum.
Sources in the police said the Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, already asked the higher-ups of the law enforcing authority to alert the administration in all the border districts with Nepal and Bangladesh in particular, as well as with West Bengal, UP and Jharkhand, to prevent any possible attempt to smuggle out these historical relics outside Bihar.
