Santiniketan: The National Insurance Company, that insured the Nobel medal of Rabindranath Tagore, is awaiting the final report of the investigating agencies, the CBI and West Bengal Police, for settling the claim of its theft with the Viswa Bharati.

An NIC official said here although Viswa Bharati authorities wanted the insurance amount for the stolen Nobel medallion and other items to be paid immediately, the insurance authority could pay only a portion. This was because the investigating authorities had not submitted the final report mentioning that the stolen items were lost forever or that the investigation was closed, he said. In this situation, NIC could pay only 75 per cent of the sum assured as ad hoc payment, the official said.

The Nobel Medallion and other items were insured with the NIC, Suri branch. The sum assured for the year 2003-04 was around Rs 3.59 crore and the annual premium was fixed at Rs 98,000. After the theft, the estimated claim by the university authority was Rs 2.39 crore, but the surveyor engaged by NIC valued it at Rs 95.89 lakh only.

The Nobel medal of Rabindranath Tagore was insured for burglary and fire and not as an antique item, the NIC official said. The theft of the Nobel medallion and other artifacts from Rabindra Bhavan museum in Santiniketan was detected on March 25, 2004.

Source : PTI