National Gallery of Australia hands back ninth-century Cambodian sculptures it believes were stolen

The Cambodian ambassador, Cheunboran Chanborey (third from left), at the official return of the Cham sculptures at the National Gallery in Canberra last week. Also among the guests were the the undersecretary of state from Cambodia’s culture ministry, Kong Vireak (second from left), the lawyer and researcher Bradley Gordon (third from the right), Susan Templeman MP (second from right) and the director of the NGA, Nick Mitzevich (far right). Photograph: The Guardian

The National Gallery of Australia has agreed to hand back one of the highlights of its Asian collection to the Cambodian government, a trio of 9th-century Cham sculptures, that it now believes were looted and illegally sold by a notorious UK dealer, Douglas Latchford.

The astonishing story of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Padmapani and her Attendants, which were purchased by the NGA for $US1.5m in 2011, reads like the plot of an Indiana Jones movie.