HYDERABAD: Security is set to be beefed up in Nizam’s Museum as the previously-stolen antiques will be soon returned to the Nizam Jubilee Pavilion’s Trust and exhibited at its usual gallery inside the museum from where it was stolen in the first place.
The theft exposed the lax management and security of the museum which has been, since then, much criticised. Altaf Razvi, security officer at the museum, said, “We have hired five more guards and in the night, seven instead of five will man the galleries.”
The museum earlier had eight guards in total. On the intervening night of September 3-4, when the thieves stole a diamond-studded gold tiffin box, gold cup, saucer and spoon , there were five guards on patrol but in a separate room.
“We have also sent the quotation for better buying at least 30 more CCTV cameras, as opposed to the 10 we have now,” he said.
Another museum official said, apart from that we are also securing every opening in the museum. “Solar fencing is also being introduced in the museum,” the official said. Solar fencing, as the name suggests, works on solar energy and zaps any object or animal that touches the fence with an electric shock.
On Tuesday, Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar highlighted the failure in security and said that the city police was ready to train the security guards to be better equipped with such situations.
The retrieved artifacts are right now under court custody, and is being housed in a locker administered by the city police. It would soon be returned to the Trust, whose members, haven’t yet spoken on the issue -- the theft or the recovery.
23-year-old Mohammed Ghouse Pasha and 24-year-old Mohammed Mubeen had both allegedly broken into the Nizam Museum on the intervening night of September 3 and 4 and stole antiques that were gifted to the Nizam VII Nawab Osman Ali Khan Bahadur. The alleged culprits were arrested after a detailed investigation by the city police on Tuesday.