US sends relics to Pakistan.
Ex-Manhattan merchant dealt in treasure.
According to New York prosecutors, more than 100 artefacts seized from Indian-American art smuggler Subhash Kapoor have been returned to Pakistan by the United States.
Last week, Kapoor was found guilty in India of stealing historic holy artefacts and smuggling them to his art gallery in Manhattan. He received a 13-year prison term.
Kapoor was the focus of a significant US federal investigation known as Operation Hidden Idol. He was also wanted by American authorities.
He was charged in 2020, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has asked India to extradite him.
According to a statement from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, New York returned 192 artefacts to Islamabad worth close to $3.4 million.
According to Bragg, 187 of the artefacts were taken in connection with the investigation into Kapoor.
A Gandhara statue of Maitreya, the awakened Buddha, and Mehrgarh figurines from a Pakistani Neolithic archaeological site that date from 3500–2600 BC are among the items that have been returned.
At his gallery Art of the Past on Madison Avenue, Kapoor offered the contraband goods for sale.
According to Bragg’s office, since 2011, it has seized more than 2,500 artefacts that Kapoor and his associates allegedly trafficked for at least $143 million.
13 works associated with Kapoor were returned to India by Australia in March.
