Crime Branch officials said the arrested trio was looking for a buyer to further sell the books in the Gulf countries. They fell in the police trap by striking a deal worth Rs 3.5 crore with decoy customers sent by the Crime Branch. The accused — Gurdeep Singh (48), Sanjay Nathani (41), and Prasenjit Biswas (33) — are into property dealing and financing, the police said. They claim to have got the rare books from some “contact”, the police said.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is ascertaining the value of the rare treasures.

Additional Commissioner (Crime Branch) Satyender Garg said: “Their value cannot be estimated outside India. Any antique lover could have paid several crores for these precious books.”

Experts say the two seized pieces of ‘Quran Mazid’ in Arabic belong to either Shahjahan or Aurangzeb’s era. While one of the books is of 168 pages, laminated and leather hardbound, the other is a 122-pager embedded with golden metallic leaves,

According to the police, they did not realise the books’ value initially but began looking for customers when they learnt about their priceless, antique nature. The police said they looked for buyers, surreptitiously, primarily in antique markets if south Delhi and Jama Masjid area.

The police sent their decoy customers to the trio following a tip-off on Thursday, and the price was brought down from Rs 5 crore to Rs 3.5 crore after some hard bargaining. The exchange, it was decided, would take place the following day — Friday. They were arrested from a restaurant near Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station.

The accused arrived in two cars and after ascertaining the copies of Holy Quran was with them, the police officials waiting at the spot arrested them. Additional Commissioner Garg said the three have named the person from whom they got the books and investigations are on to trace the person. A case has been registered under sections of the under Indian Penal Code and Antiquity and Art Treasures Act.