Medieval-era daggers handed over to ASI, ‘..artifacts have great value abroad..’, says Customs official

In Maharashtra, the Mumbai customs handed over five medieval-era daggers and one British Era folding knife to the Archeological Survey of India for preservation.

Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Prachi Saroop says, “The artifacts have great value abroad and are not supposed to be smuggled out or into the country… They were seized in 2003 and 2004… They were intercepted and seized in 2003. The folding knifedaggers  is of the British era and it was intercepted in 2004…. We had intelligence that syndicates were operating in the smuggling of antiquities and historical artifacts. So we kept vigil. Our officers culled out and zeroed in on a syndicate active in the smuggling of artifacts.

They intercepted the consignment. And when the ASI was called in, then they confirmed that these were antiquities. After that, the legal process followed and then they were confiscated. Now, we are giving it to the ASI as we cannot the custodians forever…”