Kaushambi(Uttar Pradesh): The Mahewaghat police here arrested 10 smugglers with ancient idols of Lord Krishna worth Rs 95 crore near Uttar Pradesh's Yamuna Bridge on Friday. During the interrogation, the smugglers said they had stolen the idols from a village 12-15 years ago, after which they buried them in the soil in Achah village under Babaru police station of Banda district.
One of the smugglers, identified as Ramprasad, said that after the death of two of his associates, he had gone out to sell the idol three years ago. Still, after failing, he kept it in Bhujauli village of Raipura police station in the Chitrakoot district. He had gone to Rajapur on Thursday night to sell it to a merchant from Kerala, after which he was waiting for the buyer on the Yamuna Bridge and was arrested by the police.
Also read: Gold biscuits worth Rs 1.3 cr seized in Assam
Superintendent of Police, Hemraj Meena said, "The Mahewaghat police had received information that a gang of smugglers was present near the Yamuna Bridge. The officials thereafter laid a siege and arrested ten smugglers. During the search, an idol and several broken remains of another idol were recovered from the accused."
The 10 arrested smugglers have been identified as Osman Ullah, Jitendra Kumar, Vipin Kumar Shukla, Ramkishore Vishwakarma, Musaddar, Nanka, Neeraj Vishwakarma, Ramprasad Vishwakarma, Babuji Sonkar, and Santosh Kumar Patel. Police have sent the smugglers to jail after registering a case.
