Dhaka - At least 16 people were arrested as security forces
in Bangladesh Tuesday stepped up the hunt for two ancient Vishnu
statues allegedly stolen from the airport before the rare Hindu
relics were to be shipped for France, officials and witnesses said.
The theft at the weekend rocked the interim caretaker government
which was inducted into office a year ago.
The temporary export of the relics to France was in order to put
the artifacts on show at an exhibition in the museum Guimet in Paris
under a bilateral cultural accord.
The authorities went ahead with the shipment despite protests by
local artists, writers and teachers who expressed fears that the
relics would be stolen by global smuggling rings.
Security sources said the detainees were being questioned by
intelligence agencies.
Security on the border with India had been tightened, with check
posts installed at all frontier crossings, state radio said.
The first shipment from a collection of 145 rare artifacts was
packed in over a dozen cartons and put on a cargo flight bound for
Paris on November 30.
Education and Cultural Affairs Adviser Ayub Quadri said stealing
relics from the national heritage was an unpardonable offence.
'It's me who must take the responsibility for the lost artifacts
as head of the Ministry of Culture,' Quadri said, declaring that he
might step down to ease pressure on the government.
Quadri also announced a government decision to stop further
shipments of the relics.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
Your Talkback on this Story