Police cracks Nizam Museum theft, arrests two history-sheeters

PTI, HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad police Tuesday cracked the Nizam Museum theft case with the arrest of two history-sheeters and recovered from them the priceless stolen antiques including a gold tiffin box inlaid with diamonds.

Acting on a tip-off, police arrested Mohammed Ghouse Pasha (23) and his relative Mohammed Mubeen (24) from Himayathsagar area of the city and recovered the stolen artefacts, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar told reporters.

These included a three-tier gold tiffin box studded with precious diamonds and rubies weighing about 1950 gm, a gold cup and saucer with precious stones, and a gold tea spoon belonging to the 7th Nizam Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur.The burglars had hidden these exhibits inside a pit near Rajendra Nagar, the officer said.

Fifteen police teams were hunting for the thieves after the September 2 incident.

Kumar said Pasha is involved in 15 cases of theft and burglary, while Mubeen, a school drop-out, was deported from Saudi Arabia, where he was imprisoned for assaulting a Pakistani national, about four months back. Mubeen had gone to Saudi Arabia in search of livelihood.

After his return to Hyderabad, Mubeen visited Nizam's Museum and was impressed with its rich collection of precious artefacts. He discussed with Pasha how to steal some of those as such antique pieces could fetch them several crores of rupees in international market, the commissioner said. They reached the museum on September 2. Pasha tied one end of a rope to the parapet wall and the other to Mubeen's waist, and lowered him into the third gallery through the ventilator.

"Mubeen, who entered the museum, damaged the camera inside and took out the gold tiffin box, gold cup and saucer, and the gold spoon from the showcase and put them into a bag. Pasha then pulled him out using the rope," the officer said.

The duo used handgloves to ensure they did not leave behind fingerprints and wore masks to avoid identification. They also did not carry mobile phones during the operation, he said.

Their images coming out of the building and riding a motorcycle were, however, captured on CCTV cameras installed outside. 

The two avoided taking the main roads and instead used bylanes to reach neighbouring Sangareddy district.