Over 1,400 Antiquities Valued USD 10 Million To Be Returned to India from US

New York: At least 1,440 antiquities collectively valued at USD 10 million will be returned to India, a statement has said.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., in a statement on Wednesday, said pieces recovered under several ongoing investigations into criminal trafficking networks, including those of alleged antiquities trafficker Subhash Kapoor and convicted trafficker Nancy Wiener, were returned at a ceremony with Manish Kulhary from Consulate General of India here and Alexandra deArmas, Group Supervisor from Homeland Security Investigation of New York Cultural Property, Art, and Antiquities Group.

Bragg announced return of 1,440 antiquities collectively valued at USD 10 million to people of India, according to statement.

"We will continue to investigate many trafficking networks that have targeted Indian cultural heritage," Bragg said.

returned pieces included a sandstone sculpture depicting a Celestial Dancer looted from a temple in Mhya Presh, Tanesar Mor Goddess carved from green-grey schist and looted from village of Tanesara-Maheva in Rajasthan.

statement said that during Bragg’s tenure, District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit recovered just over 2,100 antiquities stolen from more than 30 countries and valued at almost USD 230 million.

It said about 1,000 antiquities, including more than 600 antiquities looted from India and recovered earlier this year, were scheduled to be repatriated in coming months.