A Selvaraj,TNN | Dec 28, 2013, 06.24 PM IST
CHENNAI: Several rare items and replicas of ancient coins on display at the Bronze Gallery of the government museum in Chennai, established in 1854, have been stolen. Museum officials and police are still clueless about the actual number of art pieces that are missing. Officials say that the museum heist could have taken place on Thursday night or on Friday, which happened to be a holiday.
Museum staff Lalitha and the security guard, who came to the Bronze Gallery on Saturday morning, discovered that a window in the gallery had been broken open and the locks of the doors on the first and second floors had also been broken. Police collected CCTV footages and are investigating. The two-storeyed bronze gallery houses some rare idols, including a centre-piece, the huge Nataraja in the famous dance pose, besides several centuries-old icons from across the country. It is shocking that this is the sixth time that thieves have broken into the museum since the year 2000.
Police personnel and museum officials inspected the museum. "We are taking the inventory of the valuables in the Bronze Gallery. The idols were not stolen and it is a protected building. Police will provide security for the museum round-the-clock and will maintain surveillance of the building," said commissioner of the museum R Kannan.
Source
CHENNAI: Several rare items and replicas of ancient coins on display at the Bronze Gallery of the government museum in Chennai, established in 1854, have been stolen. Museum officials and police are still clueless about the actual number of art pieces that are missing. Officials say that the museum heist could have taken place on Thursday night or on Friday, which happened to be a holiday.
Museum staff Lalitha and the security guard, who came to the Bronze Gallery on Saturday morning, discovered that a window in the gallery had been broken open and the locks of the doors on the first and second floors had also been broken. Police collected CCTV footages and are investigating. The two-storeyed bronze gallery houses some rare idols, including a centre-piece, the huge Nataraja in the famous dance pose, besides several centuries-old icons from across the country. It is shocking that this is the sixth time that thieves have broken into the museum since the year 2000.
Police personnel and museum officials inspected the museum. "We are taking the inventory of the valuables in the Bronze Gallery. The idols were not stolen and it is a protected building. Police will provide security for the museum round-the-clock and will maintain surveillance of the building," said commissioner of the museum R Kannan.
Source
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