The Hyderabad Heist: The Untold Story of India’s Biggest Museum Theft
Author: Sharmishtha Shenoy
Publisher: Rupa
Pages: 199
Price: Rs 395
“Criminals who steal high-value artworks tend to be better thieves than businessmen. They don’t understand that the true art in a heist isn’t stealing, it’s selling.” This is the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) view on museum thefts, Anjani Kumar, then police commissioner of Hyderabad, tells his team in the early chapters of The Hyderabad Heist.
The agent he is quoting is Robert Wittman, founder of the FBI’s National Art Crime Team, who has said this in more than one interview. The fact that stealing