FORBESGANJ, August 4, 2013: Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) officials on Friday foiled an attempt to smuggle six idols made of 'ashtadhatu' into Nepal when they arrested two smugglers near Birpur Chowk under Forbesganj police station under the same sub-division in Araria district.

The six 'ashtadhatu' idols of Lord Ram, Goddess Sita, Lakshman, Lord Ganesh, Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Krishna, which were stolen from different temples, weighed, in all, 36 kg. They are valued at several crores in the international market, SSB sources said.

On a tip-off that a group of smugglers were carrying away six precious idols of Hindu gods and goddesses made of 'ashtadhatu', the SSB officials' team led by deputy commandant Maheshwar Prasad laid a trap and intercepted an autorickshaw bearing no BR -11/ 3277 near Birpur Chowk, some km ahead of the Bihar-Nepal border, SSB sources said.

The SSB officials also succeeded in laying hands on the six idols and arrested two smugglers, Mohd Ali and Mohd Zainul hailing from two different villages of Kala Balua and Baidyanathpur in Saharsa district. Some of their accomplices, however, managed to escape, SSB sources said. SSB Commandant Pratap Singh said the smugglers, under intense interrogation, confessed that they had intended to carry the idols clandestinely into Nepal.

To all intent and purposes, the arrested persons were couriers and cogs in the wheel of a wider syndicate thriving on the theft and smuggling of precious idols which fetch them huge amounts in the international market. The idol smugglers have a wide network across the north-east districts which have seen a spurt in the theft of idols over the past few years, officials disclosed.

Source: The Times of India, DT. August 4, 2013.