Posing as buyers, Idol Wing cops seize 130-yr-old idol in Kovai

CHENNAI: Masquerading as wealthy idol collectors, Idol Wing-CID of Tamil Nadu police seized a 130-year-old Murugan Idol from a man in Coimbatore, who attempted to sell the idol for Rs 3 crore.

According to officials, Idol Wing had received information that a person, S Bhaskar from Ukkadam, was trying to sell the 200 kg antique idol and was looking for buyers. A plan was devised and Sub Inspector (SI), Pandiarajan from the Madurai unit posed as a buyer and approached Bhaskar over phone a month ago.

“The seller Bhaskar was very reluctant to give his address and show the idol to SI Pandiarajan. It took more than a month to win the seller's confidence after several conversations over the phone. Some of the conversations with the seller were recorded to be used as evidence later,” said K Jayanth Murali, Director General of Police (DGP), Idol Wing.

After a great deal of persuasion, Bhaskar agreed to meet SI Pandiarajan at an agreed spot near the Coimbatore bus stand on Thursday.

Bhaskar agreed to show the idol if he brought an advance of Rs 10 lakh. Only when SI Pandiarajan agreed to the deal and promised to bring the advance, he revealed the address.

Around 2.30 pm on Thursday (Nov 4), a team led by ADSP (Central zone), Balamurugan along with SI Pandiarajan reached Bhaskar’s residence and the idol of Lord Murugan was found in the main hall of Bhaskar’s residence.

“He did not have any documents to prove the provenance. Nobody would ever keep such a massive idol in their house and there is no doubt that such an idol is meant for temple worship and should have belonged to some temple. The seller who was guilty offered no resistance to the Idol wing personnel,” said Jayanth Murali.

When the idol was weighed, the Thiruvacchi (arch) weighed 50 kgs and the Murugan idol weighed 250 kg. Idol Wing officials said that they will get the idol inspected by the experts to ascertain its antiquity and its actual market value.