Maximum antiques stolen from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh: Govt data

States from where antiques from the protected monuments and sites of the Archeological Sites of India (ASI) have been stolen include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.

New Delhi: Amid the government of India’s attempt to retrieve stolen antiques from foreign countries, data has revealed that 486 antiques were stolen from across the country with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh being the top three affected States. As per government data, 125 antiques were stolen from Madhya Pradesh, followed by 93 in Rajasthan and 86 in Uttar Pradesh. However, the government has so far been able to retrieve 29 stolen antiques belonging to MP, Rajasthan’s 23 and Uttar Pradesh’s 11.

Records said that 486 antiques were stolen from 19 states and UTs out of which 91 have also been recovered. States from where antiques from the protected monuments and sites of the Archeological Sites of India (ASI) have been stolen include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.

What has worried the Ministry of Tourism and Culture is the fact that in most cases, State governments and private agencies do not share the information on theft of antiquities with ASI. Ironically, there is no dedicated monitoring cell to detect the theft of antiquities from museums under ASI. Quoting the submission of the Archaeological Survey of India, a senior government official said that besides regular watch and ward staff of ASI, private security guards, state police armed guards and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were deployed as per requirement in order to prevent any kind of theft or related events.

“If theft of antiques in centrally protected monuments, sites or museums, First Information Report (FIR) is lodged in the police station concerned and a “Look Out Notice” is issued to all law enforcement agencies, including all customs exit channels, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the police to keep a vigil on tracing the stolen antiques and prevent any such unsolicited incidence of illegal export,” the official said. Three Look Out Notices were issued by ASI since 2018 till date.

Out of 3,695 Centrally Protected Monuments (CPMs) and sites under ASI, only 83 CPMs have been provided with CCTV cameras for ensuring security. Antiques, which were stolen from India and have adequate documentary proof, are being claimed back, and this is an ongoing process. “However, retrieval of antiques, which are not documented and reported stolen from anywhere in India is difficult to retrieve,” the official said.

Retrieval of antiques, which are in private collections and museums, is very difficult as even after possessing enough documentary proof, the other party sometimes refrain from returning the same, having spent a huge amount in purchasing such antiques. “One stone sculpture from Nagada, Rajasthan namely Apsara is in the Denver Museum, USA. Authorities from the museum have delayed the matter even after providing them with substantial documentary proof,” the official stated.

Lack of documentation has been hampering the retrieval process of antiques from different foreign countries. Significantly, documentation in the 55 site museums of ASI all over the country has been initiated and is likely to be completed by the end of 2023, the official said. Data shows that 31 antique artefacts from the USA, eight from Australia, 17 from Singapore, nine from the UK, eight from Australia, and one each from Switzerland, Bangladesh, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Singapore are at different stages of the retrieval process.

The retrieval of one stone sculpture of 'Varah' is pending since 2017, from Switzerland. Likewise, the retrieval of 16 antiquities stolen from Tamil Nadu to be retrieved from Singapore, is pending. ASI has taken up a retrieval case of a stone sculpture of Vishnu (stolen from Tripura) from Bangladesh. ASI has taken up the issue of retrieval of this 9th and 10th-century old sculpture. However, authorities in Bangladesh are maintaining silence despite repeated correspondence on the matter.