Dhanapal grilled for hours in Kumbakonam

The former commissioner P Dhanapal, is one of the four accused in the Palani Dhandayuthapany temple idol case, was booked by the Idol Wing CID, in Marchin connection with the irregularities in designing an idol for Palani temple. The High Court granted conditional bail to Dhanapalon June 21 ordering him to surrender his passport and directed him to stay in Kumbakonam for 60 days from the date of surrender.

The court while directing Dhanapal to bear the cost of the security personnel to be placed on the premises where he would be staying denied phone access to him. Accordingly, he was allowed to stay in a lodge on Mutt Street in Kumbakonam.

Meanwhile, Dhanapal, who came to the Idol Wing IG office on Tuesday, at 10.30 am, was interrogatedby a team led by ADSP Rajaram for several hours. It is said thatDhanapal had given details about the VIPs allegedly involved in the idol smuggling racket. The inquiry team recorded maximum information from Dhanapal before allowing hm to return to the lodge. Dhanapal,emerging out of the idol wing office, said that he neither absconded nor was under house arrest. “I extended my fullest cooperation to the team and the investigation details cannot be disclosed as of now,”Dhanapal told the reporters.

Similarly, HR and CE Joint Commissioner (Legal) Ashok also appeared before the idol wing police for an inquiry in a case related to the smuggling of idols from Rajasamy temple in Erode where as many as 14 idols went missing in the period between 2015 and 2017. Ashok was serving as the Assistant Commissioner of the temple then.