The museum authorities were shocked to find that their valuable diamond studded gold tiffin box was stolen, along with a golden teacup & saucer and a spoon.
The daring theft took place on Sunday night, when the burglars slipped into the Nizam Museum at Purani Haveli, Hyderabad.
The antiques could fetch up to Rs 50 crore at international auction. The three-tiered gold tiffin box weighs 2kg and is studded with diamonds and rubies.
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An examination of the crime scene revealed a burglar entered the room through the wooden ventilator and used a rope to scale the wall. That the thieves were well-versed with the layout of the room can be gauged from the fact that they twisted the CCTV camera just beneath the ventilator to avoid being captured in the footage.
After climbing down 20 feet to touch the floor, the burglars broke open the frame of the cupboard and stole the antiques. They exited via the same route.
Around 9 AM on Monday when the museum was opened, employees found the valuables missing and raised the alarm.
The police officers visited the museum on Monday evening and took stock of the investigation. Police scanned CCTV footage, which showed a man entering through the ventilator, but his face was blurred. Police suspect that it was an inside job, maybe of a man earlier employed by the museum.
The museum did not have burglar alarms. The showcases lack sensors which could have tipped off the authorities.
The valuables belong to Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan who received it as a gift during the celebration of his silver jubilee as the Nawab of Hyderabad. Historians couldn’t put a price on the antiques it is “priceless”.
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