Lord Shiva Stolen statue to be repatriated from UK to India

London [UK], July 30 : An ancient priceless statue of Lord Shiva, stolen from a temple in (Rajasthan) and smuggled to UK, is set to be returned to its rightful place (India).

Lord Shiva Stolen Statue

The 4-foot tall statue created in the late 9th Century 'Prathihara' style of Rajasthan is said to have been stolen from the Gateshwar temple , Rajasthan in 1998.

Following the combined efforts of the British authorities and Indian officials, the statue was voluntarily handed over by the collector to the Indian High Commission in London (2005).

Since then, the statue of Shiva

The statue is now all set to be returned to its original home in Rajasthan.

In 2017, officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) were invited to inspect the statue, confirming that it was indeed the statue stolen from the temple in Baroli.

Its the latest in a string of priceless artefacts and antiquities taken from India and which have been tracked and traced in operations carried out by the Indian government and its counterparts in the UK, USA, Australia, France and Germany.

The following year a 12th Century Bronze statue of Bhagawan Buddha was restituted to the High Commissioner by the London Metropolitan Police. This was handed over to the Minister of State for Culture by the Finance Minister in 2019.

On August 15, 2019, another two antiques - a 17th Century Bronze idol of

Credit (ANI)