Three antique idols of Lord Mahavira seized, one arrested

New Delhi, Dec 24 (UNI) The Delhi Police have seized three "asthadhatu" idols of Lord Mahavira, about 700 year-old valued at several crores of rupees in the international market, from a person in Shalimar Bagh area of North Delhi.

The three idols were recovered by the police from one Narender Singh, a resident of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, at Shalimar Bagh last evening when he had come to dispose off the idols to a prospective customer.

During interrogation, Narender revealed that the idols were given to him by Dhruv Kumar Gupta, Than Singh and Ranjeet Singh, who are residents of Uttar Pradesh, with the idea to dispose them off at a high price in Delhi.

Police said the antique idols of Lord Mahavira are approximately 600 to 700 years old with their market value being estimated to be in crores of rupees.

A case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, police said.

This is the second incident over the last ten days of an antique idol being seized from Delhi.

On December 16, an "asthadhatu" idol of Lord Krishna dating back to the Mughal era and valued at about Rs 2 crores in the international market was seized from two persons in the Walled City of Delhi.

UNI AR AD KN1758