Thomas (Special correspondent)
T
he custom officials of air cargo wing foiled idol smuggling racket and recover a 15 century old lord Mahavishnu idol and arrested a antique dealer from Tamilnadu on Friday .
The idol was recovered hours before being smuggled out to Malaysia.The idol was declared as a replica of antique idols.
A senior officer said,the team while on routine check on the items,got suspicion on a consignment at the cargo bay that was scheduled to be shipped to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A close examination revealed that the package contain a three feet tall bronze statue of Lord Mahavishnu .
The officials verified the papers to find that the exporter had declared it as a newly-made bronze antique replica statue.
But as the idol had some important characteristics of an antique piece,and looked century old.The officials then secured the exporter and brought him to Bengaluru and requested the ASI team to examine the idol and certify at the cargo section airport .
The ASI team thorough examination confirmed that the bronze statue is indeed an antique piece and the statue could be from the 15 century Vijayanagara period .
The expert said that the idol polished and modified to look like a new piece. Based on the finding the dealer was arrested and booked under various sections of the customs act and the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act .
The accused was produced before a magistrate in the city on Saturday who remanded him to judicial custody,while officials are investigating further to ascertain if the accused was part of bigger network and the source of the idol.
