By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
New Delhi: Three property dealers were arrested in New Delhi on 8th March when they were trying to sell two sets of the Holy Quran whose value is estimated to be over Rs 100 crore.
The rare books, written in Arabic, are inscribed in gold and date to the Mughal period. Though the exact source of the books is yet to be ascertained, the police said they were stolen from either Haryana or Rajasthan. The accused were trying to sell the copies of the holy book for Rs 3.5 crore.
The officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) told the police that the books, known as Quran Madina, were written in Arabic and belong to Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s period. If sold in West Asia, they could fetch anywhere above Rs 100 crore.
The police said the three arrested men – Gurdeep Singh (48), Sanjay Nathani (41) and Prasanjit Biswas (33) – deal in property and finance and are residents of Delhi. The books contain 168 and 122 pages and the calligraphy has been inscribed in gold. The three men were arrested from a restaurant near Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station where they had gone to strike a deal. The policemen who were acting as decoy customers bargained and brought down the amount to Rs 3.5 crore. The police have also seized two cars from the accused. They have been booked under section 411 (receiving stolen property) and other sections of the Antiquity and Art Treasures Act.