16 held as Bangladesh steps up hunt for stolen Vishnu relics

Dec 25, 2007, 14:57 GMT

Dhaka - At least 16 people were arrested as security forces in Bangladesh Tuesday stepped up the hunt for two ancient Vishnu statues allegedly stolen from the airport before the rare Hindu relics were to be shipped for France, officials and witnesses said.

The theft at the weekend rocked the interim caretaker government which was inducted into office a year ago.

The temporary export of the relics to France was in order to put the artifacts on show at an exhibition in the museum Guimet in Paris under a bilateral cultural accord.

The authorities went ahead with the shipment despite protests by local artists, writers and teachers who expressed fears that the relics would be stolen by global smuggling rings.

Security sources said the detainees were being questioned by intelligence agencies.

Security on the border with India had been tightened, with check posts installed at all frontier crossings, state radio said.

The first shipment from a collection of 145 rare artifacts was packed in over a dozen cartons and put on a cargo flight bound for Paris on November 30.

Education and Cultural Affairs Adviser Ayub Quadri said stealing relics from the national heritage was an unpardonable offence.

'It's me who must take the responsibility for the lost artifacts as head of the Ministry of Culture,' Quadri said, declaring that he might step down to ease pressure on the government.

Quadri also announced a government decision to stop further shipments of the relics.