Hyderabad, February 02: Police today seized priceless manuscripts of the Holy Quran, one of them dating back to the Andalusian period in Spain, from two realtors who were planning to sell them off.
Task Force East Zone sleuths nabbed the realtors, Pankaj Kumar Parkee alias Malik and Vangari Ravi Kumar, at Nallakunta on credible information and seized the manuscripts comprising a big Quran, a medium-size Majmua and a miniature.
Pankaj Kumar, a resident of Murgi Chowk, earlier used to run the Millennium Book House there. Police said Pankaj Kumar’s brother, Pavan, who expired sometime back, had purchased several Qurans from a person many years ago. He had planned to sell them with the help of his friends, Madhusudhan and Ravi Kumar who were offered a share in the sale proceeds.
After Pavan Kumar’s death, Pankaj got possession of the manuscripts and was planning to sell them for Rs 75 lakh when he was nabbed at Nallakunta along with Madhusudhan and Ravi Kumar.
Police said one of the Qurans was written on handmade paper, bound in leather and decorated with gold foil. It is in the Naskh script in carbon black and vermilion (Sindoor), with each folio having eleven lines.
The first two folios are illuminated in gold, lapis lazuli and cinnabar with a translation of the Surah Fatiha in Urdu.
“This was the property of an employee of Mughal Emperor Shah Alam whose name was Mohammed Ibraheem and his seal was also depicted on the last folio.
The size of the Quran is 45X26.5 cm,’’ Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police M Ravindranath Babu told reporters.
The Majmua manuscript, which dates from the 19th century, consists of 10 chapters with each folio having gold and emerald interlining and headings illuminated with lapis lazuli, emerald and cinnabar pigments.
Some of the folio margins are also decorated and there are two miniature paintings — of the Kaaba and Madina respectively. It belongs to 19th century. The Majmua contains 10 chapters.
The miniature Quran is on handmade paper and is bound in leather.
This codex is written on octagonal paper in the Andalus script of Spain. The two folios (beginning and ending) are decorated with gold cinnabar and lapis lazuli and the leather binding bears 13th-century designs in gold foil. The size is 3.5 X 3 cm.
–Agencies