Jaipur, Jan 31 (IANS): The Rajasthan police on Thursday arrested a man on charges of trying to forcibly take away a copy of the Quran written with letters in gold during the Mughal era.

The police identified the man as Banwari Meena and alleged that he was a gang leader involved in the crime. "To sell, he had already struck a deal for Rs 16 crore with a Bangladeshi family. However, one of the gang members was arrested even before the deal could be finalised", said a police officer.

The police said Mughal Emperor Akbar is said to have donated the Quran's copy with letters written in gold to one of the prominent families of Mandalgarh (Bhilwara). As the descendants of the family fell on bad days, they decided to sell the Quran's copy and contacted Rakesh, a resident of Jaipur. Rakesh later contacted the Banwari gang.

The police said Meena called the owners of the Quran's copy and bashed them. He ran away with the holy book's copy in a car.

Victim Yogendra Mehta had complained to the police on September 12, 2019, said DCP Dr Rajeev Pachar. The DCP said the police were looking for Meena ever since the incident.

He said the Quran's copy with over 1,000 pages was recovered from Meena.