Delhi's Patiala House Court recently granted bail to a man named Manoj Kumar Mishra accused of stealing a rare and ancient gastropod fossil worth five crores from the India International Trade Fair. He had been held in custody since his arrest on November 26. The Judicial Magistrate Ravi noted that while the recovery had been made and the investigation was ongoing, there was no reason to keep the accused in custody any longer, leading to the decision to grant him bail upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000.
The case stemmed from an FIR filed by Delhi Police following a complaint by Dr. Praveer Pankaj, alleging that the Gastropod Fossil had been stolen from the GSI stall at the Ministry of Mines pavilion during IITF 2024. Advocates representing the accused argued that he was falsely implicated, stating that the alleged recovery was of an article that did not belong to anyone at the fair. The police opposed the bail, citing the ongoing investigation and the recovery of the stolen item based on CCTV footage that led to the accused's apprehension.