Deganga (West Bengal): Antiques worth over Rs 100 crore were seized from the Deganga area of West Bengal's North 24 Paraganas district on Friday. Official sources said that the operation was conducted in the Hadipur neighborhood of Deganga by the Administrator General and Welfare Trustee.
They further revealed that over 15,000 antiques were seized during the search operation at the residence of Assad Ul Zaman. According to Biplab Roy, a senior official of the Administrator General and Welfare Trustee, "the market value of the antiques is likely to be over Rs 100 crore."
Official sources said that Assad Ul Zaman collected the antiques from Chandraketugar in Deganga from where remnants of the Maurya and Kanishka empire of ancient India were discovered earlier. Officials said that Assad Ul Zaman collected the seized antiques after coming to know of the discovery.
Officials of the Administrator General and Welfare Trustee visited Assad Ul Zaman's residence on Friday disguised as customers. Elaborating further on the case, Roy said that the State Government's Welfare Trustee has set up a museum of antiques where several specimens from the Archaeological Survey of India have been put on display.
" It was while looking for such antiques, we came to know about Assad Ul Zaman. " He has a collection of over 15,000 such antiques out of which only 15 to 20 are certified by the Archaeological Survey of India. We have seized the specimens which do not have certification," said Roy.
The Kolkata Customs in 2020 seized 25 antique idols valued at Rs 35.3 crore, which were being smuggled to Bangladesh. According to sources, officials of the Preventive Wing said acting on a tip-off, it searched a truck carrying paddy on the night of August 23 and found the antiquities hidden inside.
