Hyderabad, July 25: Two antique conch shells dating back to the Buddhist era valued at Rs 2 crore in the international market were recovered in the city on Friday. Three persons were nabbed for illegally possessing and trying to sell them.
The conch shells belong to the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist era and are approximately 150 years old. “The conch shells were embedded with Asthamangalam symbols (eight auspicious symbols in Buddhism). These two antique conch shells are also embedded with ‘Vajra’ and ‘Dragon’ motifs, West Zone Task Force inspector J Narsaiah said adding that the shells are believed to be very auspicious in Buddhist monasteries.
According to archeological experts, who examined the conches, the two antique pieces are “very rare” and would easily fetch Rs 2 crore in the international market.
Task Force sleuths nabbed the three persons who were in possession of the shells at MS Maktha, Punjagutta on Friday.
The trio are — H M Rahmatullah alias Babu of Khairatabad, Mohd Saleem of MS Maktha and S Madhu Sekhar alias Vamsi of Khairatabad.
According to the police, Rahmatullah, worked in the HMT lamps division and retired in 1991. With no other sources of income after retirement, he was in a deep financial crisis. He was advised by a friend, Venkat of Borabanda, to purchase the conch shells from his friend, Jaideep of Eluru, as they were auspicious and would bring him good luck.
Rahmatullah purchased the shells from Jaideep for Rs 2.10 lakh out of his retirement benefits and kept them in his house. With financial problems compounding, Rahmatullah decided to sell the shells and contacted his friend, Madhu Shekhar.
Madhu Shekhar and his friend Mohd Saleem contacted a customer, Narsing Rao, and convinced him to purchase the shells with the money he was planning to deposit in a bank. “The duo assured Narsing Rao that they would sell the conches at a higher price and even offered him a commission,” Narsaiah said.
Though Narsing Rao paid Rs 5 lakh, the duo did not gave him the conches. As pressure mounted from Narsing Rao, the duo contacted a businessman and struck a deal for Rs 35 lakh. As the duo were waiting for the customer near M S Maktha, Task Force sleuths nabbed them on information and recovered the conch shells.
Police said it was not yet known how Jaideep, who is yet to be arrested, got the conch shells.
–Agencies—