Kaushambi (UP), Sep 16 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh police on Friday arrested 10 inter-state idol smugglers here and seized two idols having an estimated international market value of Rs 95 crore from them.

The police said the precious idols were stolen from Banda district in the state 15 years ago.

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Superintendent of Police Hemraj Meena said the accused were arrested by a police team Thursday night.

Giving further details, he said the weight of one of the seized idols is 62 kg and that of the other is 46 kg, adding that the archaeological department has been informed about the development.

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"The estimated value of these idols in the international market is around Rs 95 crore," the officer noted.

He said out of the 10 arrested accused, one is from Banda district, six from Chitrakoot district and three from Kaushambi district.

The accused told police that the two idols were stolen from a temple about 15 years ago by three people, two of whom have died. They said both the idols were buried in Bhujaini village under Raipura police station area of ??Chitrakoot district for about 10 years.

The smugglers were planning to sell the idols, police added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)