Idol Wing seizes 4 antique artefacts from Auroville

CHENNAI: Sleuths from the Idol Wing CID on Monday seized four antique artefacts from an inmate in Auroville, Puducherry. This is the third seizure by investigators from Auroville in the last one week.

The artefacts were recovered from the possession of Laura Reddy (65), wife of Santhiga Reddy, CEO of a manufacturing unit called Maroma in Auroville, Pondicherry.

The seized items included a metallic bronze idol of Sivakami Amman, stone idol of Hanuman, stone idol of Nagadevi and stone idol of Sivan.

“Based on information and after making local enquiries and ascertaining the truth behind the information, the Idol Wing obtained an order to search the premises of Laura Reddy and on Monday a team headed by DSP carried out searches resulting in the seizure of the antique items,” noted DGP Jayanth Murali heading the Idol Wing.

The Idol Wing effected the seizure of all the four metal idols according to legal requirements as the shop owner was not in possession of documents authorising the legal custody of these antique idols. As the owner could not establish the provenance of the idols, the Idol Wing CID is investigating how and by whom and from where these idols got stolen.

On September 17, the Idol Wing had seized as many as seven antique items from a shop in Auroville. Similarly, the wing had seized 20 antique artefacts from a French national in Auroville on September 12.