US Returns Over 1,400 Stolen Artefacts Worth $10 Million To India

The United States has announced the return of over 1,400 looted artefacts, valued at nearly $10 million, to India, according to a press statement from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Among the stolen treasures being repatriated is a sandstone sculpture of a Celestial Dancer, which was taken from a temple in Madhya Pradesh in the early 1980s.

Photo Credit: PTI File Photo

To facilitate smuggling and sale, the sculpture was looted and split into two parts. After being professionally reassembled, it was later donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by a client of Subhash Kapoor.

The Celestial Dancer remained on display at the Met until it was seized by the Art Theft Unit (ATU) in 2023.

"Today's repatriation marks another victory in what has been a multi-year, international investigation into antiquities trafficked by one of history's most prolific offenders.

HSI New York and our colleagues at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office have worked tirelessly with our partners in India and beyond to disrupt and dismantle the smuggling networks and in turn recover these invaluable pieces," said William S. Walker, HSI New York special agent in charge, in the statement.

The artefacts were recovered as part of several ongoing investigations into criminal trafficking networks, including those linked to alleged antiquities smuggler Subhash Kapoor and convicted trafficker Nancy Wiener. The investigations have resulted in the conviction of five individuals.