By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Jan. 20: The Metropolitan Crime Division arrested two individuals for stealing artifacts from Kaiser Mahal, a palace built during the Rana rule in Kathmandu.

According to the division, 18-year-old Suman Sharma and 36-year-old Bir Bahadur Sunar were arrested.

“We had received a complaint that some artifacts were stolen from Kaiser Mahal and a team was sent to the site for investigation,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, chief at the division, on Thursday.

Several historical artifacts have been kept in a room of the Kaiser Library after the Kaiser Mahal was damaged by the 2015 earthquake. The palace is recently undergoing retrofitting.

A head of a tiger and two swords used by Kaiser Shumsher were stolen.

“At around 3 pm on Wednesday, a sack was recovered on the palace premises. It contained the stolen items,” read a statement issued by the division on Thursday.

The division had suspected a couple of individuals for the theft and detained 18-year-old Sharma for investigation.

“During the interrogation, Sharma admitted to taking the sack, which had the stolen items, on a scooter (Ba 42 Pa 2694). However, he left the sack and the scooter on the premises after he was questioned by a guard,” said SSP Kunwar.

SSP Kunwar informed that Sharma was given the task by 36-year-old Sunar. Sunar is also the mastermind of the theft.

“Sunar was the contractor of workers employed to retrofit the palace. He was the one who planned the theft,” said SSP Kunwar.

Police informed that Ganesh Bishwakarma and Devendra KC were also involved in the theft.

“The other two are still on the run and are being searched for. Further investigation is also underway,” said SSP Kunwar.