DHAKA, 26 December 2007 — A Dhaka court yesterday allowed authorities to question 15 people suspected of involvement in the theft of two rare artifacts from Zia International Airport.
Three among those arrested were Air France officials based in Dhaka. Airport police investigating the case sought 10 days to quiz the suspects, but the court allowed remand for only five days.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh yesterday canceled plans to send rare artifacts to Paris for a museum exhibition next year after the two artifacts — statues of a Hindu deity — were stolen en route to France.
The 1,500-year-old rare terracotta statues of the Hindu deity Vishnu disappeared from Zia International Airport in Dhaka on Saturday just hours before they were to be flown to the French capital.
The Cabinet decided at a special meeting yesterday to cancel the exhibition in light of the apparent theft, a government statement said. “The Guimet Museum would be informed regretfully that it would not be possible to go ahead with holding the exhibition of the items as planned,” it said.
The statues were among 188 rare cultural items being sent to the Guimet Museum in the French capital for a major international exhibition on Bangladesh’s history and culture. The first consignment of 42 items was sent to Paris on Dec. 1.
Police also launched a nationwide hunt and sought help from Interpol to retrieve the stolen relics.
