NEW YORK: Customs officials in New York have recovered a bronze religious statue from the eleventh or twelfth century that they say was looted from a temple in India.
The New York office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Wednesday an anonymous collector voluntarily surrendered the idol. It says the 2 1/2-foot (0.61 meter) idol was looted from a temple in Tamil Nadu at the southern tip of India and will be returned to India.
Customs agents say the collector bought the object in 2006 and was given false provenance papers.
ICE says the bronze statue would sell for as much as USD one million if offered on the market.
The idol’s recovery is part of a three-year investigation into former New York-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who’s awaiting trial in India.
