Days after four manhole covers – now confirmed to be heritage items designed by Chandigarh’s master planner Le Corbusier – went missing from Sector 45-C, police arrested two men and recovered the stolen items from their possession.

The city has over 2,000 original cast-iron covers, designed by Corbusier, and most of these installed in the heritage sectors (Sectors 1 to 30). Their value came to light in November 2010, when a Paris-based auction house, Artcurial, sold one such cover for ₹10 lakh. Subsequently, several covers began going missing from the city.

The accused in the fresh case have been identified as Raja Ram, 24, a resident of Phase 2, Mohali, and Mukesh, 32, of Attawa village in Sector 42, Chandigarh. They were arrested on Tuesday.

The case was registered on November 7 following a complaint by Davinder Singh, president of the block welfare association, Sector 45-C. He reported that four sewerage manhole covers had gone missing from outside houses numbered 2018, 2029, 2262 and 2219 in the sector.