NY prosecutor returns looted antiquities to India, Pakistan

Washington: New York public prosecutor Alvin Bragg has returned to India and Pakistan hundreds of looted ancient statues and figurines, some as old as 5,500 years, that were brought into the US by a network allegedly masterminded by Subash Kapoor, a convicted antique smuggler.

Bragg’s office in Manhattan said that 235 antiquities from India, including many sacred images from temples, had been seized during investigations into the multinational predations of Kapoor across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other countries.

The smuggled items were sold through Kapoor’s Art of the Past gallery in Manhattan, the office said.

A total of 307 items valued at about $4 million were handed over to India’s Consul General Randhir Jaiswal at a ceremony last month, according to Bragg’s office.

Bragg returned to Pakistan 192 statues and figurines totally valued at $3.4 million last week and of them, 187 were unearthed during investigations into Kapoor, his office said.

Among them were what are called Mehrgarh Dolls, terracotta figures of the mother goddess estimated to be from 3500-2600 BCE that were looted from the Mehrgarh archaeological site in Pakistan.

Image courtesy of (Photo courtesy: kadn.com)

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