New Delhi: Close on the heels of theft at Shantiniketan, archival artefacts and documents of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri went missing today (Apr 3, 2004) from his memorial in New Delhi, but prompt police action led to their recovery and arrest of four people, including a constable of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC).

The documents, kept in almirahs, were found missing from the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial at Rajendra Prasad Marg at around 16.00 hrs (IST), joint commissioner of police (New Delhi) Maxwell Periera said.

Delhi police acted swiftly forming several teams to trace the valuable missing artefacts and documents, he said.

The PAC jawans on guard at the memorial, currently under renovation, were taken into custody, Periera said.

After sustained interrogation, a PAC guard Ganpat broke down and revealed that the almirahs containing the valuables had been sold off to a junk dealer.

A team was immediately despatched and the junk dealer Khem Chand was tracked down in Khan Market area, about three kms away, the Joint CP said.

Chand had already disposed the material to another dealer Bashir, Periera said.

Police arrested Khem Chand, Bashir and his son Naushad besides Ganpat and recovered the items, he said.

However, some of the books had been torn off or mutilated by the junk dealers, Periera said.