19 cases of theft of antiquities reported in 3 years: Govt

Nineteen cases of theft of antiquities have been reported from the Centrally Protected Monuments of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the past three years, the government said today.
According to the information uploaded on the Lok Sabha website, the artifacts retrieved were originally from Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, Orissa, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and a few other states.
In most cases an FIR was filed, while in some other the artifacts were recovered.
"Whenever any illegally exported objects or antiquities of Indian origin surfaces in foreign countries, efforts are made through the Indian mission abroad for retrieval of such antiquities," Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said, according to his reply to a question in the Lok Sabha and uploaded on the website.

Twenty seven antiquities were retrieved from foreign countries in the past three years. Of them, 18 returned from the US during 2016 and 2017, according to the ministry.