The United States has repatriated 657 antiquities to India, collectively valued at nearly $14 million, in one of the largest such returns in recent years. Officials noted that while this marks significant progress, there is still more to be done to recover stolen cultural heritage.
According to a report by PTI, the announcement was made on Tuesday by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The artifacts were recovered through multiple investigations into international trafficking networks, including those linked to disgraced art dealer Subhash Kapoor and convicted trafficker Nancy Wiener.
The handover ceremony was attended by Consul Rajlakshmi Kadam from the Consulate General of India in New York. Highlighting the scale of the issue, Bragg said, "The scale of the trafficking networks that targeted cultural heritage in India is massive, as demonstrated by the return of more than 600 pieces today. There is unfortunately more work to be done to return stolen artifacts back to India, and I thank our team for their persistent efforts."
Consul General of India in New York, Binaya Pradhan, acknowledged the continued cooperation between the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, the US Department of Homeland Security, and law enforcement agencies. He credited their "continued vigilance" for making the recovery and return of these culturally significant objects possible, PTI has reported.
Among the returned items is a bronze statue of ‘Avalokiteshvara’, valued at $2 million. The figure, seated on a double-lotus base over a throne flanked by lions, bears an inscription identifying its creator as Dronaditya of Sipur, near present-day Raipur in Chhattisgarh.
Originally discovered in 1939 near the Lakshmana Temple, the artifact became part of the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum’s collection by 1952. It was later stolen, smuggled into the US by 1982, and eventually surfaced in a private New York collection in 2014. Authorities located and seized it in 2025.
Another significant piece is a sandstone statue of a dancing ‘Ganesha’, which was looted from a temple in Madhya Pradesh in 2000 by one of Kapoor’s associates, Ranjeet Kanwar. The statue passed through convicted trafficker Vaman Ghiya before being sold to New York gallery owner Doris Wiener, as reported by PTI.
Following her death, Nancy Wiener fabricated its provenance and sold it through Christie’s New York in 2012. The sculpture was eventually recovered after being surrendered by a private collector earlier this year.
A third notable artefact is a red sandstone statue of the Buddha, depicted standing with his right hand raised in the ‘abhaya mudra’, symbolising protection, as reported by PTI.
The statue, valued at $7.5 million, shows damage likely sustained during its looting from northern India. It was smuggled into New York by Kapoor and later seized from one of his storage units by the Antiquities Trafficking Unit.
According to PTI for over a decade, the District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit, working alongside Homeland Security Investigations, has pursued cases involving Kapoor and his associates, who are accused of orchestrating the illegal looting and sale of cultural artefacts across South and Southeast Asia.
An arrest warrant for Kapoor was issued in 2012, and in November 2019, he and seven co-defendants were formally indicted for their roles in trafficking stolen antiquities. Kapoor, who was convicted in India in 2022, is currently awaiting extradition. Meanwhile, five of his co-defendants have already been convicted in the United States, as reported by PTI.
The Antiquities Trafficking Unit has, to date, recovered more than 6,200 cultural objects, including rare books, artworks, and antiquities, valued at over $485 million.
Of these, more than 5,900 items have been returned to 36 countries. The unit has also secured convictions against 18 individuals involved in cultural property crimes, while extradition proceedings are ongoing for seven additional suspects.