NEW YORK: After a high drama, Mahatma Gandhi’s five personal items, including the iconic round eye glasses, finally went under the hammer here and were bought for USD 1.8 million by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya.

The auction went off despite the owner of Gandhi’s prized memorabilia, James Otis, saying he has decided not to sell the items in the light of controversy.

The items which went under the hammer also included a pocket watch, a pair of sandals and a plate and bowl besides the rimmed glasses used by Mahatma Gandhi.

The prized memorabilia of the Father of Nation is expected to return to the country soon as the Antiquorum Auctioneers will handover the articles to Mallya within two weeks.

Tony Bedi, bidding on behalf of Vijay Mallya, said the purchase meant that the revered independence leader’s glasses, sandals, pocket watch, and plate and bowl would now return to India.

Bedi said Mallya planned to donate them to his country. “I am sure all Indians will be pleased that these Gandhi items will be coming home,” Bedi told reporters after the dramatic auction at Antiquorum Auctioneers in New York. .

Cheers and clapping broke out when the hammer came down.

Indian businessmen and others with links to the country packed the auction room, joining frenzied bidding to ensure that the memorabilia did not go to another country.

Earlier, speaking to reporters here, Otis said: “In the last few hours, I have decided, in the light of the controversy, not to sell Gandhi’s personal items.”

Otis’ move came after intense negotiations between him and Indian diplomats at the Indian Consulate in New York.

Otis earlier in the day set new conditions including that India shift priorities from military spending to health care especially for the poor if he has to call off the auction