NEW DELHI: The Nobel citation of child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi has been recovered from the jungles in Sangam Vihar more than a month after it was stolen from his south Delhi home, police said today.
He thanked the Delhi Police for their "efforts" to recover the citation.
"I am thankful to the Delhi Police for their efforts to recover the Nobel replica and the original citation. The Nobel belongs to every Indian citizen and child.
"Since I am a son of a policeman, I have always understood their sense of responsibility and commitment towards the nation," he said in a statement.
Satyarthi had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. He shared the honour with Pakistan's child rights activist Malala Yousafzai.
The citation, which was stolen along with the Nobel replica and other items on the intervening night of February 6 and 7, was recovered last evening after an intensive search by a 15-member team from the dense forest area in Sangam Vihar, police said.
"It (the citation) was recovered yesterday evening from the dense forest area of DDA Ridge Land opposite G-Block Sangam Vihar, where the accused had dumped it in a bag thinking it as an insignificant item," DCP (Southeast) Romil Baaniya said.
Three persons were arrested on February 12 for allegedly stealing the Nobel replica, the citation and other valuables from Satyarthi's Kalkaji home in southeast. While the Nobel replica and other stolen items were recovered, the citation was not found.
However, it was recovered yesterday evening from the dense forest area of DDA Ridge Land opposite G-Block Sangam Vihar where the accused had dumped it in a bag thinking it as an insignificant item, said Romil Baaniya, DCP (Southeast).
"A 15-member team was formed to find the missing citation. The areas that were frequented by the three accused in the days and leading up to their arrest were plotted on a grid map of Delhi. During the daytime, those areas were searched with the help of dog squad and mounted police," he said. The team was constituted, under the supervision of ACP Kalkaji Amit Goel and inspector Ved Prakash, SHO (Kalkaji).
Baaniya said that they did not have any clues of the missing citation and it took them around 25 days to locate it.
"The families of the three accused used to stay in Sangam Vihar. After the burglary, they were finding it difficult to carry the jewellery pieces and other items so they disposed it off in the jungles that are usually not frequented during the night," he added.
After committing the burglary, they disposed off the citation in the jungles, since they thought it to be heavy and only a piece of paper, said the officer.
During the questioning, the accused claimed that they could not recall stealing the citation.
"We described the citation to them, but they could not recall stealing it. Following this, the areas near Aravalli Apartments in Kalkaji, Ghaziabad, Sangam Vihar, jungle road towards Faridabad, jungles in Sangam Vihar, Khoda Colony and some areas of Govindpuri were searched," he added.
The citation was recovered last evening in an intact condition near a rock in the jungle.
"It was kept in a waterproof bag and covered in a polythene and then kept in a case," said Baaniya, adding that with waterproof material protecting it, the citation was recovered in a good condition.
Satyarthi had presented his Nobel medal to President Pranab Mukherjee in January 2015. The original medal has been preserved and is now on display at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum.