Officials with Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU) and the air cargo wing at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru seized a bronze statue of Lord Mahavishnu dating back to the 15th century. An antique dealer from Tamil Nadu was arrested on Friday in connection with the case.
The statue, which was declared as a new replica of an antique, was recovered hours before it was scheduled to be shipped to Malaysia.
According to Customs officials, the team while conducting a routine inspection decided to take a closer look at a consignment in the cargo bay and found that the package contained the three-foot bronze statue.
When the team verified the papers they saw that the exporter had declared it as a newly-made bronze antique replica. But Customs officials were suspicious as it had some important characteristics of an antique and looked older.
A team went to Tamil Nadu to secure the exporter and brought him to Bengaluru. The team also requested the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to examine the idol to see if their suspicions were correct.
The ASI team confirmed that the bronze statue was indeed an antique piece and could be from the 15th century Vijayanagara period, said officials. They added that the ASI said the statue had been polished and modified in an attempt to make it look new.
Based on their findings, the dealer from Tamil Nadu was booked under various sections of the Customs Act and the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act. The dealer was produced before a magistrate on Saturday who remanded him in judicial custody.
Officials are tracing the source of the idol, and investigation is on to ascertain if the accused is part of a larger smuggling network.
