Lucknow, May 6 (IANS) Four Goans involved in an inter-state racket of smuggling artefacts have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli district with an antique idol of Lord Buddha that weighs over 12 kg and is worth over $2 million in the international market, police said Thursday.
The four were nabbed late Wednesday from Alinagar area, about 300 km from Lucknow.
"The four men were arrested while they were going to meet some of their clients in Varanasi," police inspector P.K. Ram told reporters in Chandauli.
"Though the four have admitted that they have been into the illegal trade for the past six years and have clients in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand, they are giving contradictory statements on where they got the idol," he added.