The Salar Jung Museum authorities said that they are ready to present an inventory to the Central Crime Station Police on Friday and show that every object or artefact in the museum is in place. They also vehemently denied the possibility of any jewellery theft or alteration claiming that it is a ploy of the accused, Hasan Ali, to divert the attention of the police, and at the time of the so-called theft, the Nizam’s jewellery was not even in the Hyderabad Museum but in the RBI vault.
The museum director, A. Nagender Reddy, said, “We will present every list or details of objects asked by the CCS as per protocol. Every three years, the inventory is tallied and nothing ever went missing from SJM.” The director pointed out that the chronology of the theft claimed by Hasan Ali and the location of the jewels at that time don’t match at all. Hasan Ali says that the theft took place around 1993-1995, but not a single piece of the Nizam’s jewellery was in Hyderabad at that time, Mr Reddy said.
“Due to some legal dispute related to the Nizam’s property, the government had taken custody of it and the jewels were in the Reserve Bank of India vault. It was only in 2001 and 2006 that the jewels were flown in to the city by special Air Force aircraft. The responsibility of the stringent security lies with the Central government. We are convinced that no such theft took place and there is no doubt as to the genuineness of the jewellery.” Moreover, Hasan Ali told the police that one Nasir Baig worked as custodian/manager of the Salar Jung Museum, but Nawab Ahtheram Ali Khan, a descendent of the Salar Jung family, pointed out that no such post existed at SJM nor was any such person ever associated with the museum in any capacity.
“However, there was a person by that name, who was the last Nizam’s fourth wife’s relative. But he too has nothing to do with the Nizam’s jewels ever,” he said.