Three held with ashtadhatu idol

LUCKNOW: A veterinary doctor, a property dealer and one more person were arrested with an ancient ashtadhatu idol of Lord Buddha. The idol along with two motorcycles and three mobile phones were recovered from their possession. The incident was reported from Aliganj police station on Saturday.
The three who were arrested by a team of the assistant superintendent of police, Aliganj were identified as Devendra Sharma, a resident of Madiaon police station area, Sushil Kumar Sharma, a resident of Itaunja police station area and Abhishek Saxena, a resident of Chowk police station area.
The police said that the three were trying to sell the ancient idol, which weighs around 2.7 kg, when they were caught. However, the exact value of the statue in the market and how old it is, could not be ascertained, circle officer Amit Pathak said.
The three told the police that the idol was purchased by them from Atrauli by paying Rs 1 lakh. During the course of investigation, the police also came to know about two other miscreants who were involved in such crimes. The two were identified as Daddu and Nawab.