Bangladesh
launches hunt for stolen antiques
Mon
Dec 24, 2:45 AM ET
DHAKA
(Reuters) - Police in Bangladesh have begun a massive search to
recover two rare archaeological artifacts stolen from Dhaka airport,
officials said on Monday.
The
two statues of Hindu God Vishnu, sculpted some 1,500 years ago,
were
stolen while being loaded on a Paris bound flight on Saturday,
amid a
protest by art lovers and conservers of rare artifacts.
The
stolen objects were among items being sent to France under an
agreement
for exhibition at the Guimet Museum in Paris, officials said.
The
shipment was stopped after detection of the theft.
Police
said they detained 12 suspects and were interrogating them.
"Law
enforcing agencies including police and the elite force Rapid
Action
Battalion (RAB) have launched a coordinated drive to recover the
artifacts,"
Hassan Mahmood Khandker, director-general of RAB, told Reuters.
The
art lovers had protested against the shipment as they were worried
artifacts might be stolen.
"Our
suspicion has come true," said Serajul Islam Choudhury, a
former
professor of Dhaka University.
"We
still believe we are going to be cheated if we send those artifacts,"
he
said.
The
exhibition is due to be held in Paris early next year.
"France
condemns such acts of stealing the valuable masterpieces in the
strongest terms," Jean Romnicianu, Charge d'affaires of the
France embassy
in Dhaka, told Reuters on Monday.
"It
is obviously an important loss and we have no doubt that fast,
decisive
and efficient measures will lead to finding the criminals,"
he said.
One
consignment was already shipped to Paris and the theft occurred
when a
second was being loaded for the flight.
(Reporting
by Masud Karim; Writing by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Jerry Norton)