BENGALURU: The Sampangirama Nagar police have arrested five persons who were allegedly trying to export an antique idol of Buddha, which is estimated to be around 200 years old. The accused have been identified as Panchamarti Raghurama Choudhari alias P Raghu (45), a resident of Hyderabad, Uday Kumar (37) of Horamavu, Freddy D’Souza (44) of Viveknagar, Sharan Nayar (41) of Hennur Bande and Prasanna MK (39) of Kothanur.
Police said they received a tip-off that some persons were trying to sell an antique idol of Buddha near Woodlands hotel and a police team swung into action and nabbed five persons. They had no documents to prove that the idol belonged to them lawfully and hence they were arrested, and a 38cm idol of Buddha was seized.
“When questioned, Raghu revealed that he had purchased the idol from one Srikanth, a resident of Hyderabad, for Rs. 30 lakh. As such idols have huge demand in foreign countries, he had planned to find a buyer who can export the idol. He had also asked the other accused persons to look for potential buyers.
Further, it is found that the idol was stolen from somewhere and a probe is on to find out the same,” the police added. The accused have been booked under various sections of the IPC and the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act 1972.