Santiniketan: Visva-Bharati has not formally communicated to the Nobel Committee in Stockholm about the burglary of Rabindranath Tagore's original Nobel medal, the university vice-chancellor Sujit Basu said today (Mar 27, 2004).

"We have not formally intimated the Nobel Committee about the loss of Gurudev's original medal, since our primary objective is to recover the burgled medal," the vice-chancellor told reporters when asked if the Visva-Bharati would request the Nobel Committee to issue a replica of the medal.

Asked as to why the original Nobel medal was kept in the showcase in the Rabindra Memorial museum instead of a replica one, Basu said, "Visva-Bharati does not have any replica of the medal. One such replica is there at the poet's ancestral house at Jorasanko in Kolkata."

To another question, he admitted lack of foolproof security system in the museum, but said barring entry of people would give rise to problems, "since national sentiment is involved here".

Asked about reports from some quarters that "some" of the burgled items had been recovered, the VC said he had not received any such information at the official level.

"I have not received any official reports of that kind," he added.

Basu said the Visva-Bharati authorities would conduct two inquiries in relation to the burglary.

"Firstly, in regard to the negligence on part of those in charge of the security of the museum, we will start an investigation to detect lapses in this area.

"Secondly, we will fix responsibility on those in charge of the museum and detect their lapses," the VC added.