The CBI suspects that an area around the Steel Authority of India Limited guest house in Shantiniketan was the place where the planning of the theft of Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel prize and other articles had been made.

The CBI was led to the spot police sniffer dog 'Rohan', a CBI release distributed by the Visva-Bharati University said on Sunday.

After smelling a recovered stolen item - an ivory work on a wooden stand, the dog led the investigating officials to a broken window and a wire fence, which was cut, leading to the guest house.

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It was also possible that the criminals had left the area by road running in front of the guest house.

The CBI officials were of the belief that the tools used to cut the lock of the museum's window and the wire fence were the same.

The CBI and Central Forensic Science Laboratory officials have searched the entire area of the Uttarayan Complex, which houses the museum.

Meanwhile, highly placed CBI sources said in New Delhi that a few persons detained on suspicion were being questioned. Strict vigil is being maintained at all exit points of West Bengal.

A high-level team headed by Additional Director CBI Vijay Shanker would visit Shantiniketan on Monday to assess the situation.

CBI said the general public could pass on information regarding the theft or the accused on phone numbers: 03463-262573 (CBI camp office at Shantiniketan), 033-23596119, 033-23348713 (Superintendent of Police CBI, Kolkata), 011-24363535 (Deputy Inspector General of Police, Delhi) besides the Control Room number 011-24361273.

It has announced a reward of Rs 10lakh for any information leading to the recovery of the stolen items.