Man stole priceless 50 million-year-old fossil from trade fair

A 49-year-old man picked up a 50-million-year-old fossil from the India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Bharat Mandapam last week, walked around the exhibition with the 1kg relic in his bag for hours as he recced for more valuables and slipped out, a heist that went unnoticed by 2,000 Delhi Police personnel and 1,000 CCTV cameras till Geological Survey of India (GSI) officials spotted a notable absence from their stall.

The man, Manoj Kumar Mishra (49), was eventually undone by a UPI transaction he made at the fair. Delhi Police arrested him on Monday from his Noida residence, where they found the fossil, which is likely older than many landmasses and the Himalayan range, kept on a study table.

Experts said the fossil was a gastropod – a class of mollusk animals (snails or slugs) that are characterised by a spiral-like design on them. The fossil in question dates back to the eocene epoch (56 million to 33.9 million years ago) of the cenozoic era, confirmed a GSI official.

“The fossil is at least 50 million years old,” said the official.

Police said the fossil is 12cm long and 10cm wide and GSI officials confirmed it was recovered during British Rule “from Gujarat or Rajasthan”.

The incident took place on November 21 inside GSI’s stall at IITF. A police officer said the man roamed around with the fossil for between two and four hours inside the fair without being caught.

“CCTV footage showed the accused entering the fair in the morning. He even purchased a few items at a stall. After an hour or so, he went to hall number 4 and picked up the fossil from the GSI stall,” said the Delhi Police officer, who asked not to be named.

“He put it in his hand bag, but did not leave immediately. In fact, he roamed around for hours afterwards, looking for more things to steal,” said the officer.

GSI officials noticed the invaluable fossil missing only “an hour or two later”.

“He left an hour after the search began. But since there was no frisking at the exit, he managed to escape,” said the officer.

Police said the fossil, which GSI officials said was not valued but independent experts said could cost several dozens of crores, was kept in the open, without an enclosure, any protective apparatus or tracking equipment.

Senior police officers said that many GSI officials and static guards were keeping a watchful eye on the fossil.

“We think the theft took place because a crowd of at least one lakh (100,000) people visit the fair every day and it’s tough to keep an eye on everyone,” said another officer.

GSI officials filed a case of theft at the IITF police station around an hour-and-a-half after the fossil was picked up, after which a team of officers led by assistant commissioner of police Ratan Lal began poring through CCTV footage.

Sumit Kumar Jha, deputy commissioner of police (IITF), said, “We looked through footage of hundreds of CCTVs at the hall in the fair and nearby stalls, halls and pavilions.”

The police officer, who asked to not be named, said a PayTM transaction eventually led police to the suspect.

“After three days, we found a man picking up the fossil and keeping it in his bag. He shopped for a few items from another stall. We checked with the stall owner and found this person had paid via PayTM. We got a technical analysis done and found his name, phone number and address…” said the officer.

Mishra, a resident of Sector 22, Noida confessed to the theft, said police.

The 50-million-year-old fossil, they said, was lying on a table.

“He had not hid it and was planning to sell it. He was trying to contact sellers online…” said an investigator.

Mishra works in the housekeeping department of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Greater Noida and was a “regular” at the trade fair.

“He had a keen interest in art and various art forms. He stole the fossil with the intention of selling it at a high price He was not found to be involved in any previous criminal cases,” added the DCP.

Police said Mishra visited the fair multiple times and are trying to ascertain if he stole anything else.