India News | TN Idol Wing Seizes Antique Murugan Idol

Chennai, Nov 5 (PTI) A sleuth of Tamil Nadu Idol Wing posed as prospective buyer and helped to seize an idol of Lord Murugan, billed to be sold for Rs 3 crore in Coimbatore, police said on Saturday.

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Following information that S Bhaskar of Ukkadam, Coimbatore, was trying to sell an antique idol of Murugan for Rs 3 crore, DGP, Idol Wing CID K Jayanth Murali, IGP of Idol Wing, Dinakaran, and Superintendent of Police Ravi, hatched a plan to disguise the staff of the wing as a prospective buyer to approach the seller.

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Accordingly, Sub Inspector Pandiarajan of the Madurai unit masqueraded as buyer and approached the idol seller, a month ago.

"Initially, seller Bhaskar was very reluctant to give his address and show the idol. Gradually, Pandiarajan gained his confidence. During the negotiations, the SI recorded the conversation with the seller to be used as evidence later," a release said.

In one such conversation, the seller divulged that he had an idol, which was over 130-years-old, and that he was willing to sell it for Rs 3 crore. Bhaskar agreed to meet Pandiarajan at a place near the Coimbatore bus stand on November 3. He agreed to show the idol if an advance of Rs 10 lakh was brought to him, the release further said.

He revealed his address only after Pandiarajan agreed to give him the advance sum. Following this, a team under the supervision of ADSP Central Zone Balamurugan comprising of DSP P Chandrasekaran, Inspector Sathya Prabha, and others went to Bhaskar's residence, accompanied by Pandiarajan and Village Administrative Officer (VAO) of Coimbatore town on November 4 and seized the idol of Lord Murugan.

There were no documents to prove the provenance. Also, it became clear to the Idol Wing CID that the idol was meant for worship in a temple and that it should belong to some temple.

The idol weighed 250 kg while the Thiruvachi (ornamental arch) weighed 50 kg. The idol measured 113 cm in length and 38 cm wide.

DGP C Sylendra Babu and other senior officials appreciated the police team for the excellent work.

(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)