The officers of the Idol Wing CID have seized 20 artefacts from a French national’s residence in Auroville in Villupuram.
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They received information that a handicrafts shop called ‘Auro Rachana’ was illegally dealing in stolen artefacts belonging to Tamil Nadu. After verifying the information and getting an order from the judicial magistrate, the Idol Wing conducted searches at the shop and recovered documents related to 20 items, which a dealer had tried assisting a French national in smuggling to France by obtaining a clearance from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The address of the French national was available in the documents, the police said.
The team searched the French national’s premises, Dana Auro, a farm in Auroville, and seized the artefacts, including 13 stone and four metal idols, a wooden artefact, a painting and a terracotta item.
Investigation also revealed that the French National had planned to take the artefacts to France but could not do so as the ASI did not allow it after examining them. The French national was in France at the time of the search, according to an official.