30 statues seized, 2 held at airport
Two people were arrested with 30 statues at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the city yesterday.Photo: STAR
Customs officials seized 30 statues including six made of touchstone and arrested two Bangkok-bound passengers at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the city yesterday. The rest of the statues were made of metal and terracotta, airport sources said. However, the archeological value and age of those statues could not be known immediately, they said. Most of the statues were replica of Hindu god and goddess, they added. Arrestees Abdul Jalil, 55, of Comilla and his companion Mohammad Islam, 45, of Feni were scheduled to fly to Bangkok by a Thai Airways flight at 1:30pm. Assistant Commissioner Shahjahan Kabir of airport customs said, on information, they took the two men and their two luggages out of the scheduled aircraft for checking. They recovered the statues from the luggage, he said. With experts help, it was detected that six of the idols were made of touchstones weighing around 15 kg worth around Tk 3 crore, said Kabir. Of the six, three were idols of Hindu god Ganesh, he added. Earlier in December 2007, two 1,500-year-old terracotta Vishnu statues of National Museum, bound for an exhibition at Guimet Museum in Paris, were stolen from Zia International Airport.
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