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Mumbai: Mumbai Police have summoned Adarsh Chopra, the godown manager, and Denis, the VP of Operations at AstaGuru Pvt Ltd, to record their statements regarding the theft of the "Prakriti", a painting created by Padma Vibhushan S H Raza in 1992.
The 4x2 ft artwork, valued at Rs 2.5 crore, was allegedly stolen by an unknown person in 2022, from the godown of AstaGuru's auction house, located in Kala Ghoda, Fort.
According to sources, the stolen painting was covered by insurance. “It is very challenging in this case to find, who stole the painting, as the management has no suspicions about anyone. Most of the workers have been employed in the godown for over 30 years,” said the police officer.
The initial investigation revealed that five employees are currently working in the godown, including the godown manager, who recently joined AstaGuru Auction Pvt Ltd. The painting had been in AstaGuru's possession since the COVID-19 pandemic. The theft occurred in 2022, and police have only recovered three to four month’s of CCTV footage, said the police.
As per sources, AstaGuru Auction Pvt Ltd did not realize the painting was missing until the owner requested a re-auction in March 2024. The auction house has around 2,000 valuable paintings stored in its warehouse.
The police will also send summons to the previous godown manager and other employees to record their statements as part of the ongoing investigation.
The manager of AstaGuru pvt ltd, Siddhant Shetty has filed a complaint against an unknown person at MRA Police station under section 380 (Theft) of Indian Penal Code(IPC) on September 9. The case has been registered under the relevant sections of the IPC because the incident occurred in 2022.
Sayed Haider Raza was an Indian painter who lived and worked in France for most of his career. He was born in 1922 in Madhya Pradesh and moved to France in 1950. Raza returned to India in 2010, where he lived until he died in 2016. He was also awarded the Padma Shri in 1981, the Padma Bhushan in 2007 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2013.
