Olduvai Handaxe is the first great invention of mankind made 1.5 million years ago. The replica had been stolen on June 24 by Uday Ratra, a Gurgaon-based millionaire. Unable to locate it themselves, museum authorities approached the police on Friday, 13 July, who started sifting through CCTV footage at the museum. When an extremely precious replica of the ancient Olduvai Handaxe went missing from the National Museum in New Delhi, little did authorities imagine it would be found at the home of a millionaire in neighbouring Gurgaon.
In the footage, 53-year-old Uday Ratra, the millionaire, can be seen leaving the museum with the replica, police said.
The police in a statement say when they approached Uday Ratra’s house, he refused to let them in and asked them to return in the morning. About eight or ten dogs present in the house kept barking at the police team.
The cops hid around the house, and soon Uday Ratra tried to quietly escape from the backdoor with the replica of the Olduvai Handaxe, said to be the first great invention of mankind about 1.5 million years ago.
He was immediately apprehended by the police, but refused to go down without a fight. He tried to instruct his dogs to attack the police team, but was taken away swiftly by the cops, said a press statement issued by Deputy Commissioner Madhur Verma.
This is not Uday Ratra’s first encounter with trouble. In 2006, he was deported to India from the UK, where he spent close to 20 years.
10 years later, in 2016, he was arrested for allegedly trying to enter a five-star hotel in Sarojini Nagar with a blade while the then US secretary of state John Kerry was staying there. He was also arrested for stealing imported liquor from a store the same year, police said.
His father has earlier served the Coast Guard as an inspector general. An officer said that it is suspected that Uday Ratra is a kleptomaniac.
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