Man detained for theft of museum artifact | News from Delhi

New Delhi: A 53-year-old man was arrested for stealing an exhibition from the National Museum. Police suspect that the man stole it on impulse because he suffers from kleptomania.

Police said that the man, Uday Ratra, is the son of a retired Coast Guard officer. Last month, the museum authorities realized that there was missing a replica of the famous Handaxe of Olduvai, which the British Museum had donated to the National Museum in 2014. They approached the police, after which the images videosurveillance of the museum were scanned. Ratra was seen raising the exhibition.

DCP (New Delhi) Madhur Verhma said that Ratra was found at his home in Gurgaon and that he was caught with the stolen artifact. He was returned to the museum on Saturday. Ratra had previously been held for similar offenses, and we suspect that he is suffering from kleptomania. It will be examined medically, "added DCP Verma.

Police said that the museum only knew of the theft after four days, after which it conducted an internal investigation. After checking the date of the theft, the police took the pictures from the museum and scanned them for the suspect. A camera located just above the showcase where the artifact was kept recorded the burglary. Ratra was spotted in a white T-shirt and blue jeans. He picked her up and checked if anyone was watching him. He stayed there for a few seconds even as visitors passed by. Then he put it in his pocket and went away.

Police said they received Ratra's address from the museum's registry and discovered that he had cases against him at the Saket, Sarojini Nagar and Chanakyapuri police stations.

A team led by SHO (South Avenue) Vijay Pal Dahiya went to Ratra's house in Pataudi near Gurgaon, but he refused to open the door as he was probably drunk then . The team waited outside the house that night. The next morning, they saw Ratra sneaking through the back door. When he was notified, he started running to a forest behind his house. He was sued and caught even though he tried to release his eight pet dogs into the police team. The object was found in his possession.

Up to now, the police have found no plan of Ratra to sell to anyone. They take a medical opinion about his mental health.