[MSN] Bihar-Nepal Border Sealed Following Museum Heist. Rare Statues Stolen from Patna Museum.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Bihar-Nepal Border Sealed Following Museum Heist
Patna: September 27, 2006

Rare Statues Stolen from Patna Museum  
  
    
The Bihar government, following the daredevil theft of at least 17 extremely
valuable antiques belonging to the era of Buddha and Mahavir on Monday
night, alerted the Interpol, the CBI, and sealed the Bihar-Nepal,
Bihar-Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar-Jharkhand borders in an attempt to nab the
thieves.

A special team involving top Bihar police officials has also been
constituted to apprehend the criminals and recover the missing artifacts
that could fetch several million dollars in the international smuggling
world, IG (Administration) and police spokesperson Anil Sinha said on
Tuesday.

"It is highly likely that the stolen idols would be taken to Nepal either
via Bihar or via Uttar Pradesh and therefore the borders have been sealed
and District Magistrates alerted who would be checking every individual
crossing the borders from either side," he said.

Highly placed sources in the police said the statues that were stolen
sometimes on Monday night after the museum closed for the public were the
same that were scheduled to be displayed at an international exhibition in
France next month.

"This indicates the theft could have been committed with the help of some
museum employees," Sinha said.

http://www.patnadaily.com/