Chola era Krishna idol worth Rs 5.2 crore returns to Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu police’s Idol Wing CID has coordinated with the United States of America’s Homeland Security department and retrieved a later Chola period metal idol of Kaliya Kalki (Dancing Krishna) worth Rs 5.2 crore.

The idol was stolen by notorious idol smuggler Subhash Chandra Kapoor two decades ago and smuggled out of the country, the police said.

The State Idol Wing has constituted special teams to search websites of museums, and art galleries in foreign countries to locate idols smuggled from various temples here.

The teams recently came across an article Gold of Gods by Luis Nicolson published in November 2008 that featured an image of Kaliya Kalki. Upon further inquiry, the police teams found another article titled, “Hold on to Your Hat: Antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford, aka Pakpong Kriangsak” uploaded on September 27, 2019, on the website of the “Association for Research into Crimes Against Art” (ARCA) which said that Latchford had collected the same idol.

Investigations revealed that Latchford, who died in 2020, had collected the idol from Subhash Kapoor in 2005 and the idol is presently in possession of the Homeland Security department.

“It is learned that this metal idol of KaliyaKalki @ Kaliya Marthana Krishna belongs to the period between the 11th and 12th century of the later Chola period, Tamil Nadu, India. It is also suspected that this idol must have been stolen from any one of the temples of Tamil Nadu by Subhash Chandra Kapoor and his accomplice before 2005 and then sold to Douglas,” an official release stated.

Homeland Security recovered the idol due to the consistent efforts of the Idol Wing CID and international cooperation and handed it over to the Bangkok government in late 2023.

The idol was then transferred to the High Commission of India in Bangkok and it reached India on June 25, 2024, after going through various diplomatic channels. The Tamil Nadu Idol wing received it in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The idol will be produced before the special court for idol theft cases in Kumbakonam and efforts are under way to find out the temple from which it was stolen.

Shankar Jiwal, the Director General of Police/Head of Police Force, in Tamil Nadu, appreciated the efforts of the Idol Wing CID.