Nearly 1000 Ancient Idols Smuggled Out of Indian Every Year

As many as 1000 ancient artifacts are stolen and smuggled out of Indian every year, an Indian origin shipping executive said.

S Vijay Kumar, who is based out of Singapore, said on an average 10,000 major artworks of India are smuggled out of the country every decade. He said, “We are estimating about close to 10,000 major work of arts leaving India every decade,” adding that he has been tracking the stolen artifacts of gods and goddesses for almost 15 years, PTI reported.

The Indian origin artifact connoisseur has penned down his experience on the stolen Indian idols in a book “The Idol Thief,” which was launched in Singapore on Nov 10.

He told the news agency, “We have tracked some of the huge objects 15-16 tons sculptures, that have left the country by ocean containers, declared as brassware and garden furniture.” His book, containing over 200 pages, also goes on to share anecdotes of Subhash Kapoor, who is known to be one of the masterminds behind India’s major artifact smuggling circuit.

According to his book, “And when the U.S. authorities subsequently raided Kapoor’s warehouses in New York more skeletons came tumbling out of his closet. They recovered no less than $100 million worth of stolen Indian art! This was just Kapoor’s inventory – he had been in business for close to four decades and the true scale of his loot is incalculable. The U.S. declared Kapoor one of the most prolific commodities smugglers in the world.”

Kumar was also forthcoming about official apathy and negligence and said, “Sadly, for a long time it has not been cared for.” According to him, most people in the country fail to realize the extent of the smuggles and often, statues get replicated without anybody’s notice.

The loot of the artifacts is executed in several steps, Kumar explained. First, the auction houses send out top executives to see the artifacts, after which the pictures are shared through social media. Once the pictures are shared, a specific artwork is selected, and the illegal process begins.

Sharing from his 15 years of expertise, he said that to avoid getting tracked, the specific routes for containers shipment of huge sculptures are diverted several times from Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Hong Kong including New York and London and other international destinations. Smaller pieces are also smuggled away from the country, he said.

Kumar also pointed out that the most popular destination of the smuggled artifacts is the U.S. followed by London.

Kumar said India needs better laws to protect its ancient artifacts. He gave the example of Italy which, since 2012, has managed to bring back 378,000 pieces of rare artifacts. In comparison, India has managed to get back only 27 pieces, he added.