A police team in Bhopal earned a cash reward of Rs 30,000 merely for sending a thief to the hospital, as the suspect, who stole historical artefacts worth nearly Rs 15 crore including gold coins from the state museum here, had fallen down a wall and was seriously injured while escaping and was found lying inside the museum premises only, with a sackful of the booty after more than 24 hours of the theft.

However, the bizarre incident, which now seems almost like a comedy theft movie, could have very well become a national embarrassment and one of the biggest museum heists in the country had the thief succeeded in escaping.

Some of the artefacts he stole belong to the Gupta period and the Mughal Era.

According to the police, the accused, Vinod Yadav (49) belongs to village Ahima in Gaya district of Bihar. He fractured a leg and a hip joint and probably sustained serious injury in his spinal cord too after slipping and falling off a pipe while trying to scale the 25-foot-high boundary wall of the museum, located in the high security posh area of the Shyamla Hills, about a kilometre away from MP CM Dr Mohan Yadav’s official residence.

The bungalows of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh, some state ministers and a Judges’ colony, all with many security guards, are also located within 500 metres of the museum.

The museum is guarded by personnel of the Home Guards and a private security agency.

The thief entered the museum by duly purchasing a visitor’s ticket worth Rs 20 on Sunday. He then hid himself inside the museum.

When the guards locked the museum after visiting hours on Sunday, Yadav began his theft.

According to officials, he stole about 98 gold and metal coins dating from the Gupta age to the Mughal period. He also stole 75 silver coins and 38 copper coins besides a gold medallion and 12 of mixed metal. He got his hands on precious artefacts from the museum’s ‘royal gallery’ too. The estimated value of the artefacts is between Rs 12-15 crore.

However, while trying to escape by jumping over the wall by climbing up a pipe inside the museum, he slipped and fell about 20 feet to the ground.

Due to the injuries he was unable to move and kept lying beside the wall overnight. When the security guards noticed the theft the next morning and informed the police, a police team rushed to the spot.

While checking the museum’s surroundings, the cops noticed Yadav inside the museum premises trying to crawl with a sack.

On probing, the police found the stolen items and nabbed Yadav. The police subsequently got him admitted to a hospital for treatment.

Bhopal Police Commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra announced a cash reward of Rs 30,000 to the police team for their prompt and effective action.