Antique smuggling racket busted in Howrah

KOLKATA: The Howrah police on Saturday busted an antique smuggling racket after the recovery of a Buddha idol, which appeared to be an ancient one. Three persons -- Jay Prakash Gupta, Bipin Mahato and Rajesh Rai -- were arrested from a house near Botanical Garden in Shibpore in Howrah.
Howrah superintendent of police, Zulfiquar Hasan said, "This is an organised racket, which has been smuggling out priceless antique pieces to foreign countries at a premium.They have a contact person in the city who arranged the safe passage of the smuggled goods to foreign lands."
Hasan said that the age of the idol would be assessed by experts from Archelogical Survey of India and those from the Indian Museum. The nine-inch idol weighing 3.2 kgs, was made of more than one metals. The UP based gang has been engaged in smuggling antique articles for quite some time.