Lucknow, Sep 24 (Inditop.com) An antique idol of Lord Buddha weighing 25 kg and costing Rs.25 crore in the international market has been recovered by police in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district, officials said Thursday
Pretending to be customers, personnel of the special operations group (SOG) approached three people in Sultanpur — who are now under arrest — and struck a deal with them, said Inspector Dhirendra Shukla of the SOG. The idol, estimated to be about 300 years old, is made of ashta dhatu (eight metals).
“We had information about a gang involved in stealing ancient idols from temples and selling them to international smugglers. Based on this, we posed as customers and struck a deal at Rs.10 crore. The trio was arrested Wednesday night when they came to deliver the idol to us,” Shukla told IANS over the phone.
The Archaeological Society of India (ASI) has taken samples to ascertain exactly how old the idol is.
