A nearly 500-year-old gold coated antique Quran believed to be from the Mughal period has been seized from a gang that was trying to sell it for Rs five crores in Mysuru.
Police in the Mysuru district seized the ancient Quran while a group of 10 persons were trying to sell it near the Hosa Agrahara Railway station in rural Mysuru on Monday. The Superintendent of Police of the Mysuru district Abhinav Khare said that the 10 persons who were trying to sell the ancient copy of the Islamic holy book, have been arrested.
The Quran that was in the possession of the gang and a car they were using have been seized, Mysuru district SP said. A case has been registered at the Saligrama police station under section 25 of the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act 1972 and section 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, SP Khare said. “We are investigating the case to ascertain how the gang got hold of the book,” Khare told The Indian Express.
The ten persons who were arrested have been identified as N Nagaraju, 30, V Murali Krishna, 30, and Bhaskar M, 31, all residents of Raichur district, Kallappa Kambala, 54 of Kalburgi, Kanakappa Kambala, 40 of Gadag, Sanath, 27 of Udupi, Ravindra, 33 of Kollur, Vijayendra, 30 of Hosanagar, Prasad, 43 of Sagar and Raghavendra, 30 of Siddapur.
The Mysuru district police said that a team was looking for the gang after police recieved credible information that a group of men were trying to find customer to sell a gold coated Quran. Saligrama police sub-inspector S Gangadhar recieved an information around 8 pm on Monday that five members of the group were in a car near the Hosa Agrahara Railway station and were trying to sell the ancient copy of the Quran. He sent two police constables as decoys and the gang demanded Rs five crore to sell the book. The gang was arrested following the arrival of additonal police forces. Five more members of the gang were arrested from Mysuru city.
Police investigation has revealed that the accused did not inform the archeology department about being in possession of the ancient Quran though it is mandatory while holding any type of antique goods. “This 500 year old holy Quran has a total of 302 sheets and 604 pages. All pages are coated with gold,” Mysuru SP Khare said.
Source: http://indianexpress.com
