Burglars rob Nizam of his tiffin box, teacup!

| | Hyderabad
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Burglars rob Nizam of his tiffin box, teacup!

Wednesday, 05 September 2018 | Omer Farooq | Hyderabad

Burglars rob Nizam of his tiffin box, teacup!

Hyderabad city police have formed 10 teams to nab culprits involved in sensational theft of two priceless antiques from the Nizam’s Silver Jubilee Museum in old Hyderabad.

Two unknown burglars entered the museum in the wee hours of Monday through a ventilator and stole a three-layer diamond-studded gold tiffin box and a teacup which was used by seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan.

Police officials said they have found CCTV camera footage and some other clues which can help in arresting the thieves soon.

“Ten teams are working on the case and we are hopeful of a breakthrough,” said Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar, who visited the Museum located in Purani Haveli Palace, soon after the police were informed by the Museum employees about the incident.

The police believe the crime was an insider job as the culprits appeared familiar about the design of the museum and where exactly the two antiques were on display in third gallery on the first floor.

“They reached the roof of the museum from an adjoining building with the help of a ladder, entered the building through a ventilator and came down using a knotted rope,” said a police official probing the case.

The CCTV footage shows only a part of the face of one thief while the other had his face covered. Probe team found that the CCTV camera focused on the two antiques was turned away. “This also shows the culprits were fully aware of the topography of the hall,” officials said.

The police are questioning the staff of the museum and the personnel of the security agency three of whom were on duty at the time of the incident. They told the police that the museum was locked on Sunday evening and when it was reopened on Monday morning they found the glass of a show case broken and the two antiques missing.

The team has also found an iron rod which was used to break the glass. Assistant Commissioner of Police Mir Chowk Babu Chouhan put the blame on the museum authorities and the security agency also as they were irresponsible in using  old CCTV cameras, many of them were not even functioning.

According to Mohammed Safiullah, an authority on Nizam’s heritage, the two artefacts could fetch at least `50 crore in international market. “But the fear is that the thieves will melt the artefacts to remove gold and diamonds and they will be lost forever,” he added.

The two artefacts are part of a priceless collection comprising 450 antiques at the HEH Nizam’s Silver Jubilee Museum. Most of them were gifts presented to the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan in 1937 on the occasion of silver jubilee of his coronation. Some articles also belonged to his father sixth Nizam Mir Mahbub Ali Kahn. World’s buffet wardrobe used by the sixth Nizam is also part of the Museum which also has an exclusive city gallery where the items on display tell the history of the city. It also has precious jewellery and swords and scabbards.

The museum, opened in 2000, is under Nizam’s Jubilee Pavillion Trust of Nawab Mufakkham Jah, younger grandson of sixth Nizam and it is located in Purani Haveli Palace which is controlled by Mularram Jah Trust for Education and Learning running eldest grandson Mukarram Jha. As the two are locked in a tug of war the trust of elder brother has given notice to the museum to vacate the place.

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