The United States has returned 657 antiquities collectively valued at nearly $14 million to India following extensive investigations into international smuggling networks.
The artefacts were handed over at a ceremony in New York on 28 April, marking one of the largest repatriations of Indian cultural heritage from the US.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed the pieces were recovered during ongoing investigations into criminal trafficking networks linked to alleged antiquities trafficker Subhash Kapoor and convicted trafficker Nancy Wiener.
Among the returned treasures are several highly significant pieces, including a bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara valued at approximately $2 million and a red sandstone Buddha statue estimated at $7.5 million.
The Buddha statue was smuggled into New York by Kapoor and seized from one of his storage units.
A sandstone dancing Ganesha sculpture, looted from a temple in Madhya Pradesh in 2000, was also amongst the returned items.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Antiquities Trafficking Unit has been investigating Kapoor and his co-conspirators for over a decade.
An arrest warrant was obtained in 2012, and in November 2019, Kapoor and seven co-defendants were indicted for conspiracy to traffic stolen antiquities.
Kapoor was convicted in India in 2022, where his extradition remains pending.
District Attorney Bragg acknowledged the "massive" scale of trafficking networks targeting Indian cultural heritage, noting there is "more work to be done" to return stolen artefacts.
The Antiquities Trafficking Unit has now recovered more than 6,200 cultural treasures valued at over $485 million and returned more than 5,900 items to 36 countries.
The repatriation underscores growing international cooperation in combating the illicit antiquities trade and restoring cultural property to its rightful origins.
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