Policemen on an inspection at the museum after the heist. (PTI)

Patna, Sept. 26: A Buddha statue and 17 figurines, worth several crores, have been stolen from Patna Museum, the theft coming to light only today.

The exquisite bronze figurines from the Pala period — 8th to 12th century AD — were possibly stolen on Sunday night but became embarrassingly clear today when a high-level delegation from Singapore, led by minister Balaji Sadashivam, came visiting. The museum is closed on Mondays.

The stolen one-foot ashtdhatu (eight metals) statue of Buddha and 17 figurines probably depicted the best of Pala art that flourished in Bengal and Bihar, said historians.

Ram Swarup Singh, who teaches Buddhist Studies at Magadh University in Bodh Gaya, told The Telegraph: “The Pala period bronzes are the most beautiful as they depict Tantrik Buddhism art with emphasis on human anatomy, body contours and ornamentation.”

Bihar’s director of museums, Sahdeo Kumar, could not put a value on the sculptures. “Their cost may run into a few crores of rupees or a few hundred crores in the international market... Nobody knows.”

But some idea of the value could be had from the fact that insurance companies had quoted a premium of about Rs 50 crore for insuring four statues that are kept in the same bronze gallery and are to be sent to a festival in Belgium in a few months. These were not touched.

Police spokesman Anil Sinha said “insider involvement” could not be ruled out as the thieves knew what they wanted. “Equally valuable artefacts kept near the stolen statues were not touched as the thieves focused on only a special category of artefact. They knew the area and the theft happened despite guards being posted at the museum.”

The police are responsible for the museum’s security.

Sadashivam and his six-member team had to cancel the visit to the museum after the heist became known. They have offered to develop Buddhist tourism infrastructure, apart from expressing support for an ambitious plan to build an international university at Nalanda.

The police said the thieves climbed to the first floor from the northern side of the building, sliced two bars of the window using a saw, bent them to gain access to the gate to the bronze gallery and broke open the lock.

Although the police saw the hand of insiders, Kumar dismissed the suspicion since he believed the theft occurred on Sunday night after charge of the museum was handed over to the five-member police team.

“Every night the charge of the museum is given to them and no museum staff are there,” he said.