A 55-year-old man, who is the son of a retired Inspector General, was arrested on Saturday for stealing a replica of an ancient artefact from National Museum on June 24. The artefact has been been recovered.
DCP (New Delhi) Madhur Verma said that the accused, identified as Udai Ratra, was arrested from his residence in Haryana’s Pataudi in the early hours of Saturday for stealing ‘Olduvai Handaxe’.
The theft was captured on the museum’s CCTV camera. The footage was examined by the police. “The man was identified after records were checked. He has previous criminal records with four more cases filed against him,” Mr. Verma said.
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The police went to raid his house on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. The local police were also informed. “When the police reached, the accused refused to open the door,” he said.
Mr. Ratra allegedly asked the officers to come back in the morning. Mr. Verma said he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.
The police said there were about 10 dogs on the premises of the house, which were “continuously barking at the police on the instance of the accused”.
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The police team waited outside his house. After a while, the accused came out from the back door and reached the lawn. He was carrying something in his hand.
“He was immediately apprehended. The CISF staff identified the object in his hand as the stolen handaxe,” Mr. Verma said.
“It seems that he is a kleptomaniac,” a senior police officer said.