When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits New Delhi in October, she will hand over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a stolen heritage Durga idol as a goodwill gesture.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is chalking out modalities for the ceremony.
The government agency has managed to convince the German government that the ancient idol was stolen from India and sold to a German museum at a cost of $250,000 (Rs 1.5 crore).
The stolen effigy was allegedly smuggled out of India and sold off by Subhash Kapoor, a US citizen of Indian origin. Before Kapoor was arrested by Tamil Nadu Police, he was running an art gallery in Manhattan, New York.
But a major cause of concern for the archaeological agency is that Kapoor had similarly sold 30 stolen Indian heritage artefacts to Singapore’s national museum, the Asian Civilisations Museum.
Singapore has now demanded evidence to prove that these 30 antiques were stolen from the ASI-protected sites.
Fraudulent sale
The invaluable heritage items, including 17th century Mahabharata manuscripts, have been fraudulently sold to Singapore’s national museum. Now Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum has issued a rider that India will have to furnish proof of original ownership for the antiquities to be returned.
The Asian Civilisations Museum, run by the Singapore National Heritage Board, has asked the ASI to provide proof that the 30 artefacts it purchased from a US citizen had been stolen from India.
A team of ASI officials had recently visited Singapore in this connection. Sixty-three-year-old Kapoor, a US citizen of Indian origin, was arrested at the Frankfurt International Airport and extradited to India in July 2012 on charges of receiving artefacts stolen from disused temples in south India.
Many of these objects were purchased by museums throughout the world.
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