Chennai, Aug 31 (PTI) Tamil Nadu idol wing CID on Wednesday said it has created a record by ensuring conviction of all the accused in six temple idol theft cases in the State this week.

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Chief Judicial Magistrate Shanmugapriya who heard the six cases listed for August 29 in the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Kumbakonam, pronounced the verdict convicting the 16 accused in the six cases, the idol wing said.

“This is a record in the wing's history… In a country where conviction rate for IPC offences is about 40 per cent, obtaining a cent per cent conviction in all the cases is unheard of. Even an investigation agency like the CBI has not been able to do so in recent years,” said idol wing DGP K Jayanth Murali.

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As criminals most often do not get punished due to allegedly poor investigation by the police, the idol wing took steps to reduce the number of acquittals through measures to prevent witnesses from turning hostile. Appropriate guidance to investigating officers and follow-up action were ensured, it said in a press release. “Due to such improvements in the investigation standards of the idol wing brought about through the personal efforts of the senior officers of the wing, much dent could be made in the outcome of the cases under trial,” the release said. During the court proceedings, 4 accused got convicted for 3 years for stealing stone idols of Murugan, Brahma, Amman, Arthanareeswarar, and Nandhi, belonging to Ayyanar temple under Koradacherry police station, Tiruvarur district. Similarly, 3 accused involved in the theft of the Mahavishnu idol of Sri Thyagarajaswamy temple, Vaipur, received a 3-year conviction and a fine of Rs. 7,000. Five other people involved in the robbery of idols of Perumal, Sridevi, Boodevi of Vishwaroopam Perumal Temple, Tiruvallur, were awarded imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of Rs. 7,000. Similar sentences were awarded to 4 others involved in the theft of Varadharaja Perumal of Sivaloganathan temple, Tiruvarur district, and the theft of 3 stone idols of Amman, Lakshmi Narayanan, and Nandhikeswarar of Siddhi Vinayagar temple, Tiruvarur district. The investigating officers of the idol wing CID unit, who investigated and prosecuted the criminals were lauded by the Director General of Police K Jayanth Murali, and Inspector General of Police R Dhinakaran. They also rewarded and distributed letters of appreciation to Superintendent of Police (Idol Wing) Ravi and his entire team for the court work. They thanked Gobikannan, government criminal prosecution officer, also for his role in creating history.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)