Seizure of 9^th to 12^th Century Antiques on Nepal Route by Siliguri Customs

[Ref: C. No. VIII (10)29/CUS/P&I-SLG/11-12 dated 13^th January 2012]

Sub: Seizure of Idols/Statues of 9th to 12th Century AD believed to be Antiques

On the basis of specific intelligence that, public buses plying between Siliguri & Debiganj are carrying contraband goods intended for illegal export to Nepal, the officers of Headquarter Preventive & Intelligence Branch on 11.01.2012 at the time of checking Public transport buses coming from Siliguri and heading towards Naxalbari and Debiganj recovered 5 gunny bags which on preliminary verification were found to contain idols of black stones. The bus from which the goods were recovered was a Public transport and at the time of interception it was packed with local passengers and as no one came forward to claim ownership of the said goods; the officers took possession of the said goods. Moreover, as the nature of the goods could not be ascertained by the Customs Officer, the seizure formalities could not be undertaken at the time of interception. However, there were enough reasons to believe that the goods so intercepted were antique in nature and were purported to be illegally exported to Nepal. The recovered idols were produced before Dr. Bijoy Kumar Sarkar, Ex-Head of the Department in History at North Bengal University, Darjeeling on 11.01.12 for his opinion regarding antique nature of the recovered goods and their valuation. Shri Bijoy Kumar Sarkar, in his examination report submitted that the articles (Idols and Statues) were from 9th to 12th Century AD and were antique in Nature and further submitted that the total value of the articles were approximately Rs.50.00 Lakhs. Thereafter, the statues under recovery were brought to the office premises of the Headquarter Preventive & Intelligence, Branch Siliguri Commissionerate at Pradhan Building, Rishi Aurobindo Road, Hakimpara, Siliguri, Darjeeling the same were inventorised & seized vide S/C No. 01/EXP/UNCL/CUS/P&I-SLG/11-12 dated 11.01.2012 in the presence of two independent witnesses under Section 110 of the Customs Act,1962 read with Section 23(ii) of the Antiquities and Art Treasure Act ,1972 on the reasonable belief that these antiquities were meant for illegal export to Nepal from India