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150-yr-old sundial stolen from Bihar’s Dehri town recovered, scrap dealer held
The sundial, installed by the British in 1871 on the campus of Dehri Mechanical Workshop and Industrial Training Institute, was unique in the state and was considered pride of Dehri. In British era, the workshop was a hub for repairs of parts of ships.
The 150-year-old heritage sundial, which was stolen from this Bihar town a few days ago, was recovered by a special investigating team (SIT) from the house of a scrap dealer at Mohan Bigaha locality of the town on Friday night, police said on Saturday.
Unidentified thieves had stolen the gnomon of the sundial on Tuesday night. Gnomon is a triangular anti-rust alloy blade and the most important part of a sundial that casts a shadow. Placed on a hemisphere surface, the device calculates the time.
The sundial, installed by the British in 1871 on the campus of Dehri Mechanical Workshop and Industrial Training Institute, was unique in the state and was considered pride of Dehri. In British era, the workshop was a hub for repairs of parts of ships.
The theft had triggered outrage among locals and Kaimur superintendent of police (SP) Ashish Bharti had formed an SIT under assistant SP Navjot Simi to crack the case.
The scrap dealer, identified as Manik Chand Gupta, has been arrested, police said.
Gupta told police he had purchased the gnomon from an unidentified rag picker and had hidden the antique piece to sell it on lucrative prices. Police were working to identify the rag picker.
“As the sundial platform and the campus belongs to water resources department, police have written to the executive engineer to install CCTV cameras, lights and strengthen security measures before the sundial, the heritage of the town, is reinstated at earliest after completing legal formalities,” SP Bharti said.
“The nine policemen of the SIT will be suitably rewarded,” he said.
