30 antique items stolen from Kangra Fort museum

SHIMLA: Invaluable artefacts, including an antique revolver and several silver items, were stolen from a private museum at the historic Kangra Fort in Himachal Pradesh. The museum is run by erstwhile royal family of Kangra and displays artefacts that trace the history of Katoch dynasty, claimed to be the oldest in India.

Police said, thieves broke into the Maharaja Sansar Chandra Museum by removing one of its exhaust fans Sunday night and escaped with as many as 30 antique items. These included precious silver worship items, silver footwear, artefacts made from various metals, and silver trays.

"We are making a list of the stolen items after verifying the museum records," said Kangra ASP Bir Bahadur. "Prima facie we suspect involvement of two persons, but more could be involved. We are going through CCTV footage and expect to crack the case soon," he added.