Dhaka - Security forces in Bangladesh have recovered the two
missing Hindu Vishnu relics from a garbage dump on the outskirts of
the capital Dhaka, Cultural Ministry officials said Friday.
The ancient artifacts, broken into pieces, were retrieved from the
dump after it was apparently stolen from the airport about a week
ago, a senior security officer said.
The authorities suspect the images were smashed into pieces to
avoid countrywide police surveillance after a state of high alert was
announced soon after the relics were found missing.
'The seventh century statues of Lord Vishnu were fragmented into
13 pieces before these were abandoned by a suspected crime ring at
the airport,' said Major Khairul Anam of the elite Rapid Action
Battalion which led the search operation.
Eight people, including a former lawmaker, were detained overnight
by police for interrogation.
Sources said the disclosures by the detainees to police led to the
recovery of the ancient relics.
The National Museum authorities confirmed that the broken pieces
were from the stolen relics ending a week-long hunt.
Bangladeshi officials claimed the priceless artifacts were stolen
from the airport when it was being loaded on an Air France cargo
flight along with more than 140 other museum pieces.
The artifacts were to be displayed at an exposition in France
arranged by the Paris museum Guimet.
France-Bangladesh relations were under strain as Bangladesh
unilaterally cancelled its accord with France on cooperation between
the museums of the two countries.
Officials of both countries blamed one another for not taking
adequate security during the shipment of the relics.
Bangladesh's Culture Ministry head Dr Ayub Quadri resigned from
office, accepting moral responsibility for the theft of the Vishnu
relics.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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