101 antique items seized by Customs handed over to ASI

It turned out to be an antiquity of Lord Vishnu from the late Medieval period and Customs seized in March 2022.

This, and 100 other such antique objects seized by the Customs were Thursday handed over by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to the ASI.

A 206-year-old tracker telescope of the British East India Company was also a part of the tranche. It was seized in 2018 near Rangia in Assam’s Kamrup district by Customs when it was being smuggled from West Bengal to Bhutan. Officials said an expert committee of ASI, Kolkata, examined the telescope and confirmed it is genuine.

ASI declared it an antique item and informed the customs it was used by the East India Company in the early 19th century.

Sitharaman virtually presided over the ceremony at an event conducted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in New Delhi. The handing over was done at 7 locations — Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Delhi, Guwahati, Mumbai and Pune. Of the 101 antiquities, few will be displayed at ‘Dharohar’, the National Museum of Customs & CGST in Goa, officials said.

The minister said, “In the last 10 years, we have had precious coins or antiques and many such things came back to our country from other nations.” She spoke of the government’s emphasis on ensuring stolen artefacts and antiquities are brought back to India.

CBIC Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal mentioned a special instance where an attempt to smuggle an ancient bronze idol of ‘Ma Kotrakshi’, the presiding deity of a temple of Darpangarh village in Jajpur district of Odisha, was thwarted by Delhi customs officials and the idol was restored in the temple in November 2023.

Among the notable antiquities were a palm leaf manuscript having 155 leaves with hardwood supporting covers at top and bottom, and a manuscript having 17 leaves made of handmade paper, written in Devanagari script appearing to contain Buddhist texts.

The palm leaf manuscript is said to be composed in classical Champu with metres and rhythms in modern Odia script and language.