Bhubaneswar, Aug. 29: A 17-year-old numismatic from Bhubaneswar, Debi Prasad Mangaraj, alleged that many of his 40,000 antique coins had been stolen and thrown away from the rented house that was a mini museum for his collection.

His family members have lodged a complaint with the Kharavela Nagar police against landlord Sankarshan Paikray for stealing antique coins from his museum.

Debi Prasad and his father are now in New Delhi. His relative Chittaranjan Das had filed a complaint with the police on Tuesday alleging that in the absence of Debi Prasad and other members of the family, Paikray entered the museum and threw away the items from the collection and even beat up the security guard there.

“I had written to the President of India to inaugurate my museum officially. Since I had received a reply, I am in New Delhi right now to pay a visit to the President’s office. My father is also with me. But during our absence, we were informed that our landlord has scattered and damaged my coin collection. Hence, my relative has filed a complaint on our behalf,” said Debi Prasad, who is a student.

“I am eager to see the condition of my collection that I had taken many pains to gather over the years,” he said.

However, the Paikray family dismissed the allegations.

“The entire incident is being presented in a vindictive manner. The Mangaraj family has been residing in our house for a long time. But for the last four years they had not paid the rent or electricity bill. When they raised a four-storey building beside our house we requested them to shift. However, some of their dumped items were still taking up space in our house,” said Deepak Ray, a relative of Paikray. “We simply tried to clear the items, and they are raising false allegations against us,” he said.

The police said that after they received the complaint from the Mangaraj family, a team under the Kharavela Nagar police station led by inspector in-charge Manoj Samant visited the spot for preliminary investigation.

“During our investigation we tried to find out from their neighbours what had exactly happened. But they don’t have any clue about the matter. We are waiting for Debi Prasad and his father to return to Bhubaneswar to examine the issue,” said Samant.

Police officials said that during the investigation the neighbours had said that both the families shared cordial relations for many years. They added that some people even said that Paikray, a retired policeman, was a close friend of Prasanna Kumar Mangaraj, Debi Prasad’s father.

In the midst of the controversy over the coins, Debi Prasad had one good news to share. He claimed that the President had given his consent to be present during inauguration of the museum. The father-son duo will return to Bhubaneswar on Friday.