Man detained for stealing an old exhibition

A 53-year-old man was arrested on Saturday in Gurugram for allegedly stealing a replica of the old "Olduvai Handaxe" of the National Museum in the Janpath region of Delhi. The accused is the son of a retired Inspector General, Coast Guard, according to police.

According to the police, the accused was identified as Uday Ratra, who was arrested at his Gurugram residence around 3 am. "On June 24, the museum authorities noticed that the replica of the Olduvai Handaxe was missing, after which they approached the police. We scanned CCTV videos and found a man leaving the premises with the l '. stolen object, "said Madhur Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi).

Police said that Ratra was identified with the help of the visitor registry. After which, the teams were trained to acquire the residential address of the accused

"The address of the accused was found to be that of Gurugram and a team there was At the interrogation, it was found that the accused was in Chandigarh, a trap was laid and he was caught when he returned around 3 am Saturday, "said Verma.

During the interrogation, the accused revealed that he had not stolen it but that he had brought it home. The replica of the object was recovered from the house of the accused

The police stated that Ratra is the son of a retired Inspector General, Coast Guard, who served between 1985 and 2005. Ratra was a former resident of the United Kingdom but was deported to India. Ratra has the habit of stealing expensive things. He had already been arrested by the police twice in 2016.

The Olduvai Handaxe replica at the National Institute of Art History, Conservation and Museology of the National Museum was a gift from the London Museum. It was brought to India in 2014. The handaxe is one of the only artifacts known to be manufactured for a long time with such geographic spread.

ABOUT THE RELIC

• The replica of Olduvai Handaxe in the National Museum of the History of Art, Conservation and Museum Studies was a gift from the London Museum. It was introduced in India in 2014. Handaxe is one of the only artifacts known to be manufactured for a long time with such a geographical spread.