A person hid in the State Museum building in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on Sunday night with the intention of stealing, but was caught on Tuesday morning while trying to escape with ancient coins. Other ornaments including coins made of gold, silver and other metals from the Gupta period to the Mughal period, worth about Rs 15 crore, have been recovered from him.
Police Commissioner Harinarayanachari Mishra said that the police arrived immediately and surrounded the building. He jumped from the wall in an attempt to escape, but was caught. About 100 coins of the Gupta and Sultanate periods were seized from his possession. He was found injured in the museum itself and stolen goods were also recovered from him.
According to police sources, as soon as the incident was reported in the morning, the police reached the State Museum. The locks of two rooms were found broken there, in which gold-silver ornaments of archaeological importance and coins of the Mughal period and other material were kept. The museum employee told that the museum was closed on Sunday evening and remains closed on Monday as it is a holiday. All the rooms inside the museum are locked and sealed. As per the prescribed procedure, the gates were closed after all the exits.
When the police searched the museum, the accused was found unconscious and injured inside the museum. He was unable to climb a 25 feet wall and fell down and got injured. The accused has given his name as Vinod, resident of Gaya, state Bihar. A bag was found with him, in which he had kept gold and silver jewellery, coins and other items stolen from the state museum, which are worth about 12 to 15 crore rupees.
Accused Vinod Yadav (49) resident of village Ahima police station Fatehpur tehsil Baijda district Gaya state Bihar said that he bought a ticket and entered the State Museum on Sunday afternoon. Later he hid under the stairs. The museum closed after a few hours. Then he looked outside and saw home guards and private guards roaming around. Then he tried to jump over the 25 ft wall but was unable to do so. The accused told that he had come here once before also. The CCTV cameras and alarms installed in the museum were switched off and the doors were weak due to which he could easily carry out this incident.
As soon as the information about the incident was received, Police Commissioner Urban Police Bhopal Harinarayanchari Mishra, Additional Police Commissioner Awadhesh Goswami, Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone-03 Riyaz Iqbal and other officers reached the spot. Apart from them, the team of FSL, Finger Print and Dog Squad also inspected the spot.
An SIT team has been formed to investigate this case and a team has been sent to the residence of the accused in Gaya district Bihar. The SIT has been told to find out if there is any possibility of any other accused along with the accused or to get any other necessary information. Also, the Police Commissioner has announced a cash reward of Rs 30,000 to the police team for solving the case within a few hours.
