Broken pieces of stolen statues recovered from garbage dump

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After a hectic search, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) finally recovered 22 broken pieces of the stolen artefacts of Hindu god Vishnu Friday noon from Boliapur garbage dump near Aminbazar in Savar, reports UNB.
The National Museum authorities confirmed that the recovered pieces were those of the two stolen statues.
During the search operation by RAB, cleaners of the Dhaka City Corporation spotted some pieces of the statues at about 12 noon and promptly took those to the elite forces.
A RAB official told UNB that some 22 broken pieces of the two stolen rare terracotta artefacts of Vishnu have so far been retrieved from the DCC waste dump.
He said the search operation would continue until the remaining pieces of the statues are found.
Acting curator of the National Museum Swapan Kumar Biswas told reporters that the recovered pieces are part of the two stolen statues.
The RAB men conducted raid on the spot based on the statements of the 10 suspects arrested Wednesday for their involvement in the stealing of the two artefacts.
The arrested people admitted that the statues were taken to a house at Uttara (no 51, road-7/D, sector-3) after those were stolen from the airport December. Being afraid, they said, they broke the statues into pieces and threw those into a dustbin beside the house.
Later, the unsuspecting DCC cleaners removed the garbage from the trash bin and dumped those in Boliapur garbage dump.
Meanwhile, RAB Director General Hasan Mahmud Khondoker Friday said the RAB have identified persons involved in the stealing of two rare terracotta artefacts of Hindu god Vishnu and many of them were arrested.
"Investigation is going on. I think it has a positive side of the investigation. Personally I express satisfaction over the progress in the investigation," he said after completion of Annual General Meeting of Bangladesh Police Cooperative Society Ltd at Rajarbagh Police Line Auditorium.
"The incident is mysterious," he said, adding that RAB is investigating whether or not it was an incident of theft.
If it was an incident of theft, investigation will reveal who were behind the incident and its motive, Hasan said.
bdnews24.com adds: The statue would be re-assembled according to the picture and map, an official of the Bangladesh National Museum, said on condition of anonymity.