KALLAKURICHI: Tamil Nadu idol wing CID sleuths recovered seven antique idols, including three idols stolen from a temple in Ulundurpet, Kallakurichi district in 2011, from a house in Chennai. The three stolen idols were sold by antique smuggler late Deenadayalan to a woman in Chennai.
The recovered seven antique idols include that of Adhi Kesava Perumal, Sree Devi, Bhoodevi, Asthira Devar, Amman, Veera Bhadra, and Mahadevi. A release from the idol wing said it received a tip off that a person in RA Puram in Chennai possessed antique artefacts that might have been stolen from temples. DGP (idol wing CID) K Jayanth Murali and IGP (idol wing CID) Dhinakaran formed a special team that searched the premises of a woman identified as Shoba Durairajan.
The team during the search operation found seven antique idols in her house. The woman claimed that she is an antique collector and purchased a few of the idols from Deenadayalan of Aparna Art Gallery in 2008 and 2015. She produced receipts issued by Deenadayalan, who died recently due to ailments. Three of the seized idols have inscriptions at its base mentioning the name of Adhi Kesava Perumal Temple, Ulundurpet.
The team visited the temple in Ulundurpet and learnt that some culprits had stolen three idols of Adhi Kesava Perumal, Sreedevi and Bhoodevi on July 10 in 2011. The team recovered the photographs of the three idols from the temple and coordinated with the Ulundurpet police to reopen the case.
The team produced the idols before an expert along with the photographs of idols recovered from the temple. The expert after examining the idols and photographs declared that they were the same. Inquiries revealed that the woman registered the three idols with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Shimoga in 2013. The ASI, Shimoga certified that all the three idols may be more than 300 years old. The expert who examined the three idols estimated that they will be worth more than 5crore in the international market.
The wing said the woman came forward to hand over the idols after learning that they were stolen from a temple. The wing has launched inquiries about the remaining four stolen idols. These four idols were registered with ASI, Chennai in 2008. The cost of these four idols is estimated to be more than 2crore.
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