Child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi’s Nobel Prize replica, stolen from his residence here last week, has been recovered, New Delhi police said yesterday.
The Nobel laureate hoped for the recovery of its citation too and appealed to the public to inform the police if it is found.
Satyarthi’s Nobel citation, replica of the medallion along with other medals and valuables were stolen from his Aravali Apartment residence in south Delhi’s Kalkaji area on February 7 night.
“The majority of the stolen articles have been recovered with the arrest of the three accused on Saturday night. A replica of the Nobel Peace Prize, gold and silver jewellery, two laptop computers, one wrist watch, one Ipad, four imported branded pens, and two cameras have been recovered,” deputy commissioner of police Romil Baaniya said.
“We did not find the Nobel citation in the possession of the criminals but are trying our best to recover it,” he said.
Calling the burglary an unfortunate incident, Satyarthi appealed to people to understand the value of the Nobel Prize and thanked the Delhi Police for its speedy recovery. He also expressed hope that the Nobel Prize citation would be recovered soon.
“I thank the police for the speedy recovery of the Nobel Prize replica. As the police have arrested three burglars, I hope they will soon recover the Nobel citation too. I appeal to the people to bring to the notice of the police if they spot the citation anywhere,” Satyarthi urged.
The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested three criminals – Rajan, 25, Sunil, 28, and Vinod, 35 (all brothers) – in connection with the case.
Police said Satyarthi’s flat at Aravali Apartment had been locked on the night it was burgled and that the Nobel laureate was in the US. He returned to Delhi on February 10 and gave the police a list of articles stolen from his flat.
Satyarthi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 jointly with Pakistani child rights activist Malala Yousafzai.
The original Nobel medallion given to Satyarthi is kept at the Rashtrapati Bhavan as he dedicated it to the country.
Investigators found two other burglaries had taken place in Aravali Apartments’ on the same night. 
Baaniya said he had constituted seven teams to crack the case.
“We suspected Rajan, one of the know thieves in the area, of having committed the crime from the very onset. After he was arrested from Sangam Vihar (south Delhi) on a 
tip-off we were able to detain his two brothers and recover the stolen articles,” the officer revealed.
The accused, natives of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, had been residing in the shanties near Aravali Apartments for quite some time.
“They also worked in the locality as labourers and were well aware of the topography of the area and hence decided to commit the crime,” Baaniya said.
Within hours of the arrest of the alleged burglars, Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik tweeted: “Was greatly concerned about theft of Satyarthi’s prestigious Nobel Medal replica. Proud that Delhi Police recovered it in quick time.”