Over 1,400 antiquities worth $10 million to be brought back to India from US
At least 1,440 antiquities together worth USD 10 million will be returned to India, the statement said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., in a statement on Wednesday, said that pieces found under an ongoing investigation into criminal smuggling networks, including those of suspected antiquities smuggler Subhash Kapoor and convicted trafficker Nancy Wiener, were returned at event no. Manish Kulhary from the Consulate General of India here and Alexandra deArmas, Team Leader from the Homeland Security Investigation of New York Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities Team.
Bragg announced the return of 1,440 antiquities worth an estimated USD 10 million to the people of India, according to a statement.
“We will continue to investigate the many trafficking networks that target Indian cultural heritage,” Bragg said.
The pieces recovered included a sandstone figure depicting the Heavenly Dancer looted from a temple in Madhya Pradesh, the Mother Goddess of Tanesar carved in green-grey schist and looted from the village of Tanesara-Mahadeva in Rajasthan.
The statement said that during Bragg’s tenure, the District Attorney’s Antiquities Unit recovered more than 2,100 stolen antiquities from more than 30 countries and were worth approximately USD 230 million.
It said about 1,000 antiquities, including more than 600 antiquities looted in India and recovered earlier this year, are expected to be returned in the coming months.
