A man from Gurugram has been arrested for allegedly stealing a replica of the ancient Olduvai Handaxe from the National Museum in New Delhi.

The police said that 53-year-old Uday Ratra, a millionaire, was caught on camera stealing the ancient axe from the museum on 24 June.

Museum officials had initially tried to locate the missing item failing which they filed a complaint on Friday.

A team of the Delhi police immediately sprang into action and scanned the CCTV footage to discover Ratra picking up the axe.

That’s how, the ‘Olduvai Handaxe’ theft from National Museum got detected and accused identified. CCTV cameras are of great help both in crime prevention and crime detection. pic.twitter.com/xwkPl9hyFA

— Madhur Verma (@IPSMadhurVerma) July 14, 2018

When a police party went to his home in Gurugram, he allegedly let loose his eight dogs on the personnel.

In a press statement, the police said that cops found Ratra trying to sneak out of the house with the axe. When they confronted him, Ratra tried to call his dogs to attack the police party but he was swiftly removed before any harm could come to the cops.

Police said that Ratra comes from a well-to-do family and had lived in England for about 20 years before he was deported to India in 2005.

‘Olduvai Handaxe’ replica got stolen from National Museum. Team of Police station South Avenue, New Delhi arrested the accused Uday Ratra and recovered the stolen Olduvai Handaxe from his possession.

Olduvai Handaxe is the first great invention of mankind 1.5 million years ago. pic.twitter.com/TyUgqd40fO

— Madhur Verma (@IPSMadhurVerma) July 14, 2018

This is not the first time that Ratra has had a brush with the law. He was arrested in 2014 for trying to steal a costly bottle of wine. His father, a retired Inspector General of the Indian Coast Guard, had bailed him out. According to reports, he tried to steal his own file from the courtroom during the hearing of the case.

In 2016, he tried to force his way into a five-star hotel where the then US secretary of state John Kerry was staying. Ratra had a scuffle with the security guards when they tried to restrain him.

Ratra is unmarried and reportedly completed his graduation in journalism in 1985 and left for England. Following his deportation, he started living with his parents at their home in Gurugram.