HYDERABAD:
An antique conch dating back to the 18th century AD belonging to a
Buddhist monastery situated on the Himalayas and nine idols of various
Gods that were stolen from an ancient temple in Karimnagar recently
were recovered by the Task Force in separate cases.The conch,
according to archeological experts, is a very rare piece and could
fetch more than Rs six crore in the international market.East
Zone Task Force sleuths laid a trap and nabbed two persons, G Jaideep,
who runs a ‘Sharanya gems and jewellery’ store at Eluru in West
Godavari district and Mohammed Abdul Ghani alias Baba, an auto-trolley
driver from Tappachabutra, while they were trying to sell the conch to
a businessman at Malakpet.Police said the conch might had been
used during rituals in a Buddhist monastery around 150-years ago in
approximately 18th century AD.The conch is about 32 inches in
length and its width is about 12 inches. The shell weighs about 8 kg
and is studded with silver and semiprecious stones.The spiral
top position of the conch has a four-spire covered with silver and has
designs of a ram, boar, rabbit, peacock, rat dragon and a demon symbol
embedded.The body conch is covered with silver at the opening
side and decorated with a ‘Dharma Chakara’ on a pedestal planked by the
dragons and an eagle embedded on top of it.The conch has symbols of a horse, pigs, ram, bull and rabbits embedded in silver with flowers.Decorated
with floral and geographical designs, the central portion of the conch
is decorated with symbols of fire, fish and semiprecious stones. The
handle patron also has a dragon figure.“Archeological experts
said the piece is very rare and would cost Rs six crore in the
international market,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Task
Force) M Ravindranath Babu said.Jaideep reportedly purchased
four antique conches from an unknown person in Delhi for Rs 70,000 - Rs
90,000 to sell them at a higher price. He sold one conch for Rs one
lakh in Delhi.Another two were sold to Rahmatullah alias Babu, a
resident of Khairathabad for Rs 2.10 lakh. Rahmatullah was, however,
caught in July 2009 at Punjagutta trying to dispose off the conches.Facing financial problems, Jaideep decided to sell the remaining conch and contacted his friend, Mohammed Abdul Ghani.The duo came near SBI colony at Malakpet for selling the conch to a businessman for Rs 40 lakh when the Task Force nabbed them.They were handed over to the Malakpet police for further action.Meanwhile,
South Zone Task Force sleuths along with the Karimnagar police nabbed a
scrap businessman from Chandrayangutta, Abdul Rahman, and recovered
nine antique idols of different gods from him.Abdul Rahman
allegedly stole the nine antique idols from a temple at Shanigaram
village in Karimnagar four days back. He was nabbed at Bandlaguda while
trying to dispose the stolen idols.
