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Kailash Satyarthi’s Nobel replica, citation stolen

Explaining the kind of items that have gone missing, he said the Australian government had given him a souvenir but the thieves took away just the emblem on it, which was gold in colour.

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Robbers who struck at the house of Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi seem not to have known heard of the adage that ‘all that glitters is not gold”.  Nothing that was a shade of the yellow metal was spared, be it the replica of Satyarthi’s Nobel Peace Prize and its citation, various mementos, or the medals he had received from other countries as an honour.

Rakesh Sengar, an activist associated with Satyarthi’s foundation Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), said it was strange that most of the items taken – apart from a dozen expensive shawls – were those that the robbers seem to have assumed were gold. “Apart from the citation and the replica of the Nobel Peace Prize, a memento given to him at the White House and another honour given to him by the Australian government and around nine more such items bestowed upon him are also missing,” he said.

Satyarthi, who is out of the country till Feb 11, had travelled to Bogota to attend the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates and is currently in Panama.

Explaining the kind of items that have gone missing, he said the Australian government had given him a souvenir but the thieves took away just the emblem on it, which was gold in colour.

As for the Nobel replica, he said “The Nobel Peace Prize is not an honour for me alone, it’s an honour for my country as well.”

The silver jewellery in the two lockers inside his bedroom was left untouched. “The boxes in which he had kept his medals and certificates were left there and anything that looked like gold was removed from the boxes and taken away. Some Swarovski medals have been taken away as well. The locks of two other houses in the same complex were also broken, though nothing was stolen from there,” Sengar said.

Police are scouring footage from the dozen-odd CCTV cameras in the apartment to identify the culprits. Investigating officers revealed that the security guard on duty had fallen asleep and that the music from a function nearby helped the culprits gain easy entry.

A team of officials from the Delhi Police, Forensics Science Laboratory (FSL) and the Crime Branch reached the location and lifted fingerprints and evidences. “Six teams of the South-East district have been formed and the Crime Branch of Delhi Police has also been associated in order to crack the case. A case under section 380 (theft) and 457 (lurking house trespass or house break-in by night in order to commit offence) has been registered.

Further investigations are on,” said Romil Baaniya, DCP (South-East). 

The incident came to fore when Sengar, who lives nearby, had gone to pick up his car parked at the apartment and noticed the dhobi (laundryman) ringing the bell of Satyarthi’s residence. Sengar asked him why he was doing so, given no one was at home. The dhobi pointed out that the entrance door was open, which had led him to believe someone was home.

“Through the bamboo door outside, I noticed that the main door did not have a lock and entered through it. Everything in the house other than the ransacked bedroom was found intact,” Sengar said.​

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