Govt recovered 610 stolen antiques in 5 years; 559 repatriated from the US

The government has recovered a total of 610 stolen antiques from various countries over the last five years, with the United States accounting for the majority of recoveries — 559 items.

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Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, informed that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) maintains updated records of thefts from protected monuments, sites and museums under its jurisdiction.

According to the minister, seven antiques were reported stolen within the country over the last five years. In 2020, a copper kalasa was stolen from Sadashiva Temple in Karnataka and remains untraced.

In 2021, three artefacts — a Nandi sculpture from the Golingeswara group of temples in Andhra Pradesh, a Shiva Linga from Bhairav Temple in Uttarakhand and two Buddha sculptures in Bhumisparsha Mudra from an excavation site in Jharkhand — were stolen but later recovered.

In 2022, an image of Lord Vishnu was stolen from Dattina village in Bihar, and a stone idol of Lord Ganpati went missing from the Lakshminarasimha Temple in Karnataka. Their recovery is still pending.

Last year, an idol of Lord Vishnu was stolen from the Parthasarathi and Krishna Temples in Tamil Nadu but was later retrieved.

He also stated that the government regularly conducts awareness campaigns, exhibitions and workshops to promote vigilance and encourage the recovery of stolen Indian artefacts.

Providing a breakdown of recoveries from abroad, Shekhawat informed the House that apart from the 559 antiques recovered from the US, 34 were brought back from Australia, 14 from the UK and one each from Canada, Italy and Thailand.