By IANS,
Siliguri : Seven people were arrested Saturday in connection with an international antique idol smuggling racket along the India-Nepal border in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, the police said.
“We’ve arrested seven people after carrying out an operation. We had information that an international antique idol smuggling racket was operating along the India-Nepal border in Siliguri sub-division of Darjeeling district,” said S. Chaki, a senior state police officer and the leader of the special operation team that conducted the raid.
He said the police had also seized an antique idol, made of black stone, from the smugglers.
“The approximate price of the idol in the international market would be around Rs.200,000 and its weight is around 4.5 kg.”
“We are now interrogating them to get further details about their operation,” Chaki said.
“We’re looking into several aspects of the case including whether the racket has any connection with neighbouring Bangladesh,” Chaki added.