Source: www.thejakartaglobe.com
Monday, October 11, 2010
JAKARTA, INDONESIA : Police have seized 144 stolen sacred Hindu artifacts from three storage facilities in Bali after arresting the suspected thief, a 50-year-old Italian national, last week.
On Tuesday, police raided a warehouse on Jalan Mertanadi in Seminyak, where they recovered 20 artifacts depicting various deities such as the God Vishnu and sacred animals like Garuda the bird-god. The day before, police confiscated 24 pratimas, or religious effigies, in a raid on an art shop on Jalan Teuku Umar in Denpasar.
“These artifacts that we have confiscated are connected to the string of pratima thefts at various Hindu temples across Bali,” Adj. Comr. Soma Adnyana, chief of Bali Police’s criminal unit, said on Tuesday.
Police believed that the suspect, Roberto Gamboa, was a collector of stolen artifacts. Last week, they arrested the Italian and confiscated 110 pratimas at a villa belonging to him. Police also discovered 35,000 ancient Balinese coins, several Sanskrit scriptures and golden statuettes. Police later arrested Gamboa’s alleged accomplices
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