NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has solved the high-profile theft of a 50-million-year-old Gastropod fossil from the India International Trade Fair (IITF) and arrested a 49-year-old man in connection with the crime.
Identified as Manoj Kumar Mishra, the accused is a resident of Sector-22, Noida, and works at Crown Plaza, Noida. He was a regular visitor to the trade fair with a keen interest in various art forms. The stolen artefact, a gastropod fossil, weighs 1 kg.
Gastropods are snail-like and slug-like invertebrate animals. As fossils mostly represent the hard parts of organisms, snails are the most common types of gastropod fossils.
DCP (IITF) Sumit Kumar Jha reported that the staff of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) reported the fossil’s theft on November 21, which occurred at their stall in the Ministry of Mines pavilion in Hall No. 4 of the IITF.
Based on the complaint, a case under the relevant section of the BNS was registered and an investigation was initiated. During the probe, the police analysed footage from over 100 CCTVs at the place of the incident and nearby stalls, pavilions and halls. “Using technical analysis, the accused was identified and tracked,” the DCP said.
The police conducted a raid in Sector 22, Noida, arrested Mishra, and recovered the fossil along with the ticket used for entry into the trade fair. Upon interrogation, the accused confessed to the theft. He told the police that he was intending to sell it at a high price. He was not found to be involved in any previous criminal case, police said.
Gastropod fossil
Snail-like and slug-like invertebrate animals, the fossils mostly represent hard parts of organisms. Snails are the most common types of gastropod fossils.