Hyderabad Nizam's gold tiffin box: The precious box weighed 2 kg.
When security guards at the Nizam's Museum in Hyderabad were doing the rounds on Monday morning, they realised that a precious gold tiffin box weighing 2 kg, a ruby-studded cup and saucer, and a spoon, said to be belong to the Nizam era, that had reportedly been stolen from the famous museum in the city's Purani Haveli.
Offcials suspect that the incident took place on Sunday night when burglars broke into the museum and entered through the iron grill on the first floor.
"The ventilator on the first floor was broken open and the burglars gained entry using a rope. They made away with a gold tiffin box, a cup studded with rubies, diamonds and emeralds, a saucer and a spoon," news agency PTI quoted police as saying.
The security guards who worked at the museum reported the incident to the police.
Hyderabad police chief Anjani Kumar along with other senior officers visited the museum to oversee the investigation and suggested that an that incident could point to the work of an insider.
Police said the antiques belonged to the seventh Nizam, adding that they were examining CCTV footage.
Nizam's Museum, also known as His Exalted Highness (HEH) Nizam's Museum is home to several gifts received by Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, ruler of Hyderabad between 1911 and 1948 untill the time it was annexed by India.
Time magazine referred to the Nizam as the richest man in the world in 1937. He had once gifted a diamond necklace and tiara to Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of her marriage in 1947.
The galleries at the museum stock silver and gold artefacts and replicas of landmark constructions.
(With inputs from PTI)