Villagers of Giu village in Lahaul and Spiti district, 340 kms from here have reportedly stolen 545 year old mummy of a monk.
"I was informed by an ITBP personnel that some unidentified villagers have forcibly lifted the mummy from its possession. We are investigating the incident ," Ashwani Ramesh, SDM, Kaza said.
According to late reports reaching here , the mummy was lifted by unidentified villagers after attacking an ITBP camp on Tuesday.
"Some people attacked the camp and stole the mummy.ITBP people tried their level best to stop the attackers but failed. We have informed the district administration about the incident," Jawahar Singh, ITBP check post commander , Sumdoh said.
The mummy lifters , according to the police are Giu residents which is merely at a distance of 5 kilometres from Indo-Tibet border.
The 545 year old Mummy ( of a monk) was discovered by ITBP during an excavation work in 2004. Identified as that of monk Sangha Tenzin, was found inside a tomb about 6000 metres above sea level.
Giu villagers have known about the mummy since 1975, when an earthquake struck the region and brought down a part of the tomb. ITBP had placed the mummy inside a glass box and a makeshift temple like strudture was also constructed .
The theft of the mummy has worried historians and budhist scholars . They fear the precious mummy could be smuggled to the neighbouring country. It was also a big tourist attraction here.
