New Delhi: Hundreds of art works valued at USD 14 million have been returned by New York to India. Of the more than 650 antiquities that were returned, some were linked to art smuggler Subhash Kapoor. This gesture by New York authorities, might build pressure on other states in India to follow the same path and return Indian artefacts and idols taken illegally from India, which adorn the museums across the US.

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg Jr, announced the return of 657 antiquities to India. It came at a time when New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani has urged the UK to return the antique Kohinoor Diamond to India, which was taken away during the British Raj. He mentioned it during a press meet on Wednesday. His statement came just hours before meeting King Charles at the 9/11 memorial.

Meanwhile, the 657 antiquities recovered in US during various raids were handed over to Indian authorities during a ceremony at the consulate general of India. According to a spokesperson the ceremony was planned months earlier and there was no intention to hold it on the same day as the Royals visit the US.

Bragg talked about the “trafficking network which targeted Indian cultural heritage” and said that it was “massive.” He further said that more than 600 pieces of stolen items were returned on the day but there was more work to be done to return the stolen artifacts to India. He then went on to thank his team for making efforts to return the stolen items.

Among the pieces returned to India are, bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, a Buddhist deity, seated on an inscribed double-lotus base over a lion-flanked throne, said a report in ‘The Guardian‘. It was stolen from the country and smuggled to the US in 1982. It was then displayed at a private collection in New York in 2014.

Another artefact returned in this batch is red sandstone Buddha figurine. The Buddha is seen standing with his right hand raised, as if protecting his followers. This idol was looted by Kapoor from north India and smuggled to the US.

Currently Kapoor is facing smuggling charges and is under indictment for the same. Apart from the artefacts mentioned above, a dancing Ganesha idol, stolen by indicted co-conspirator, Ranjeet “Shantoo” Kanwar, was also returned.