On 9 May 2023, Satish Gupta, a decorated artist and resident of South City-1, received a call from his household staff while he was out of the country, that an antique bronze sculpture from
his home seems to be missing. He asked his staff to look around and check around the house.
The next day, Satish is told again that someone seems to have entered his home and this time, 6 antique bronze sculptures are missing! Alarmed, he called the CCTV company from abroad and tried to find out what happened.
On his return and on investigating further, there were signs of entry from the empty plot behind his home in E Block. The plot with tall grass, hadn’t been cleared for years and became an easy entry point to his home. It was quite surprising that even with staff at home, the thief was able to steal sculptures weighing as much as 60 kg!
It didn’t seem to be the work of a smacky looking to steal metal and sell it. This seems to be a well-planned art theft where the thieves knew exactly what they were going for!
The incidents don’t stop there, on 12 May when the Guptas were at dinner, they felt someone had again entered their home and someone was found to be moving in the veranda. The thief had come again and this time they took a statue of Kali and a monk. Their dog was drugged and wouldn’t make a sound. The next day the central section of a copper sculpture of Zen Forrest was taken from the terrace where it was installed. This time he entered from the KR Mangalam Service Lane through a long ladder.
Before they could assess the situation, their home was again infiltrated the next morning when his staff saw feet over the fibreglass above themselves. The thief was trying to get onto the terrace for the rest of the work from where he had stolen the golden statue. When a staff member shouted, the thief ran back, jumped 15 ft to the ground and out to the KR Mangalam service lane. He was then chased by Satish’s staff and driver, but he managed to get away in an auto standing by for him.
The matter was reported to the local police who are on the hunt for this group of thieves.
The thief who entered seemed to be a young person with a swanky haircut and rolled-up jeans. We’d like to appeal to the resident to be on the lookout for such art they see and help by asking their help if they get to know of any information.
Another learning from this incident is the need for us to keep our empty plot clean. Tall grass and unkept plots make them a vantage point for these thieves to attempt such thefts.
by Antariksh Aggarwal (+91-9990274969)
