New Delhi, Sep 9 (Inditop.com) Mystery shrouds the theft of a watch of Lal Bahadur Shastri from a memorial dedicated to him, with his family Wednesday saying it was an “expensive” piece gifted to the late prime minister in 1965 in Moscow.
That thieves could break into the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial in central Delhi Sep 3 and flee with the golden watch has pained Shastri’s family.
“My father felt that this watch is quite expensive. When he returned from Russia, he asked me whether I would like to wear the golden watch. I readily agreed. I wore that watch for 40 years and when the memorial was inaugurated by the prime minister in 2005, I gave it to the memorial,” son Anil Shastri told Inditop.
An earlier report had said the watch was given to Shastri during the Tashkent Conference in 1966. But Anil Shastri said the watch was received by his father “during his 1965 visit to Moscow”.
“My father was a simple and honest man, I never expected such a theft at the memorial. I never thought somebody can have thoughts of theft while visiting memorial of such a man,” he said.
It has been almost a week since the theft was detected. Police have taken fingerprints from the place and also conducted the forensic examination. But no arrests have been made.
He said: “The museum authorities told me on Sep 3 that an unidentified couple spent an unusually long time at the place. We have told the police about them.”
The memorial was inaugurated in 2005 and displays rare photographs, watches and other articles related to the late prime minister. It is located on Akbar Road next to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s high security residence.
“The incident took place last week, but it was reported three days after that. The only item stolen was Shastri’s watch. At the moment we can’t pinpoint who has committed the crime,” Additional Commissioner of Police S. Das told Inditop.
Another police officer said: “The memorial officials told us they conducted an internal inquiry into the incident but were not able to locate the watch. After this they decided to lodge a complaint.”
The police officer said security at the place was inadequate considering the building was a memorial to a former prime minister.
“The memorial just has one guard at the entry and one at the exit points. Strict security measures need to be taken urgently to improve the situation,” the officer added.
Anil Shastri has also written to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to increase security at the place.
“On Monday (Sep 7), I wrote to CPWD asking them to provide locks for showcases which exhibit rare articles of Shastri and for getting CCTVs for the memorial. We will also ask the guards to start frisking visitors at the exit point,” Anil Shastri said.
