A Bihar based man was nabbed from State Museum Bhopal after he failed to escape with booty worth around Rs 10 crore. The accused remained inside the museum for two days and his legs got fractured after he tried to climb 23 ft to escape.
The man was arrested on Tuesday on charges of theft from State Museum Bhopal. He has been in the museum since Sunday evening. The museum remains closed on Monday. After a day's holiday, when the employees opened the lock of the museum at 10.30 am today, the glass of the gallery in two rooms inside was broken. The valuables were missing.
The home guards and private guards deployed in the museum started the search. The accused was found lying unconscious in the hallway. He has an injury on his leg. A big bag was lying beside him.
Police from Shyamla Hills police station also reached the spot. Around 2000 years old gold coins of Gupta period, British period and Nawabi era were found in the bag. Jewelleries, utensils and other old valuables were also found.
The wall of the hallway near which the accused was found lying is more than 23 feet high.
According to DCP Zone 3 Riyaz Iqbal, 'The accused possibly tried to jump over the wall, and fell in this attempt. More than 50 fingerprints have been found in the museum. In the initial investigation, it seems that the accused was alone inside. We will inquire if he had any accomplice outside.
According to the DCP, the accused Vinod Yadav is a resident of Gaya in Bihar. He seems to be a habitual thief. One of our teams has also left for Gaya. On Sunday, he entered the museum with a ticket and hid inside. The guards deployed for the security of the museum locked the building and came inside the campus. All the stolen goods have been recovered from the accused. Its value would be between Rs 8 crore to Rs 10 crore. Some gold coins weigh 50 to 100 grams. These goods were of only two rooms, there would be things worth more than Rs 50 crore in the entire museum.
According to DCP Riyaz, there are some shortcomings in the museum building. We will give it in writing. There is no alarm system. Most of the CCTV cameras are also not funcational. The doors are weak. They are made of aluminium. There are plastic sheets on the roof in many places, anyone can break them easily.
The good thing is that the home guards and private security guards in the museum were alert. The accused himself said that he tried to leave many times, but every time he saw the guards patrolling, so he had to go back inside.
