Man held with antique worth crores

CHENNAI: A printing press owner was arrested for trying to sell a 250-year-old panchaloha vessel. The Esplanade police have registered a first information report under IPC Sections 420 (cheating) and 511 (attempt to commit offences) against the accused.
Police identified the accused as Muthu Meeran, a resident of Muthu Naicken Street in Parry's and a native of Ramanathapuram.Acting on a tip, organised crime investigation unit (OCIU) officials Meeran accused at his office in Parry's on Tuesday evening. Police personnel raided his printing press and recovered the utensil, an 'ural' or a grinding stone.
Police said the vessel is termed 'pancha bhogam' - an ancient term denoting that the utensil was used by villagers to grind grain. On the grinding stone was inscribed the letters "IB and COFE CIT - 1771". During questioning, Meeran claimed he had obtained it from a friend in Vaniyambadi.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that Rasheed from Vaniyambadi had borrowed Rs 3 lakh from Meeran to treat his ailing mother. As Rasheed failed to return the money, Meeran said he took the antique 'ural' from Rasheed and promised to give a portion of any profit he would make if he could sell the antique for more than 3 lakh.
Meeran showed the utensil to potential artefact buyers and they estimated its value at 3.5 crore. The vessel is about one-and-a-half-feet high, 1ft in diameter and weighs about 87kg. "After Meeran confirmed it was made of panchaloha metal, he invited some of the artefact buyers to see the antique. As we got a tip, we posed as buyers and met him at his printing press office and nabbed him," a police officer said.
However, police personnel at Esplanade station thought the vessel was made of ordinary metal. They registered a cheating case against Meeran for trying to sell the fake as a genuine artefact. He was remanded to judicial custody after being produced before a magistrate court in the city.
The Esplanade police then informed idol wing CID officials about the seizure of the antique utensil and the arrest of Meeran. Idol wing CID personnel confirmed the utensil was a panchaloha artefact. They will take Meeran into custody for further investigation.