Idol wing seizes 7 kg emerald lingam in Salem

According to sources, the recovered emerald lingam is worth approximately Rs 25 crore.   

A G Pon Manickavel, Inspector General of Police, Idol Wing, told reporters that the idol weighed close to 7 kg and was one of the most valuable piece seized by the team in recent years. 

Acting on a tipoff that a gang was planning to take an emerald lingam from Tharamangalam in Salem to Coimbatore international airport by road in an attempt to smuggle the high value piece out of the country, a team of the idol wing team swung into action and conducted vehicle checks at Paal Pannai on Saturday. Around 2.30 pm, the police signalled to stop an SUV, which ignored and sped past the team. 

After a hot chase the police caught the vehicle. During a subsequent check of the SUV, the team seized the emerald idol and arrested five persons who were travelling in the vehicle. 

The arrested were identified as R Valli alias Mary (49), her brother A Mariappan (47) and her accomplices, P Srinivasan (35), R Saravanan (27) and G Kumaresan (28), all residents of Perumal Temple Adivaram near Paal Pannai on Salem Steel Plant Road. 

Inquiries revealed that the lingam was stolen from a Siva temple in Tiruvarur a few months ago. The idol wing had earlier got a tip about the gang and its activities. “We tried to nab them twice, but they managed to escape,” the IG said and added that they could arrest the gang only in their third attempt on Saturday. 

Police sources said that Singapore and Sharjah were the only destinations to which international flights were being operated from Coimbatore and efforts were on to trace the destination of the idol. The team has sought the help of archaeologists to ascertain the age of the emerald lingam and the temple from where it was stolen.