The Gods And Their Many Thieves

Ashwin Krushna Navami, Kaliyug Varsha 5111

DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT of Police S Selvaraj is understandably good at cultivating informers because they make his job so much easier. Selvaraj works with the Idol Wing, Criminal Investigation Department, of the Tamil Nadu Police — a special investigation unit cracking down on the theft of antique idols from temples. His informers identify gangs dealing in stolen idols by posing as prospective buyers. Last month, acting on a tip-off, Selvaraj and his team tracked a gang for nearly a fortnight before arresting them in Chennai on August 31. Nine idols, including those of Lord Vishnu, Lord Balamurugan, Lord Azhwar, Goddess Sridevi and Goddess Boomadevi were recovered from them. Estimates put their value in the international market at Rs 1 crore. “You need a lot of patience in this job,” muses Selvaraj.

Specially created in 1983 to investigate the theft of idols valued at more than Rs 5 lakh, the low-profile Idol Wing has about 44 personnel. The unit, which incurs an annual operational expenditure of around Rs 5 lakh, investigated 217 cases between 2003-2008. In this period, it solved 104 cases and recovered about 535 idols with an estimated black market value of Rs 50 crore, arresting 314 people.

The unit has recovered 29 stolen idols worth around Rs 3 crore and arrested 26 persons this year — among them, the arrest in March of 45-yearold Sanjive Asokan, an idol smuggler who had been eluding the police for a decade. In the same period, Sankarlal, a Sri Lankan national, was arrested along with seven other accomplices and idols were recovered from his gang.

For idol thieves, Tamil Nadu is particularly attractive because it has tens of thousands of temples, many of them more than a century old. An estimated 38,436 temples are under control of the state’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE) alone. Moreover, most idols here are made of a unique material, panchaloha – an alloy of gold, silver, copper, brass and iron. “There is great demand for these idols among collectors abroad. They can fetch lakhs of rupees in the international market,” says S Rajendran, IG, Idol Wing.

THE ARREST of Asokan, a registered handicrafts dealer earlier this year, was a major coup. His links with idol-smugglers came to light when a special party of the Idol Wing arrested two persons from Ariyalur in August last year, when they attempted to sell an idol at Asokan’s shop in Chennai’s Triplicane locality. Further enquiries revealed that a gang had stolen eight antique idols from the Prahadeeswarar temple at Sripuranthan village in Ariyalur district in 2006. “The evidence suggests that Asokan had sold the stolen idols from the Prahadeeswarar temple to a private art gallery in New York as the gallery owner has deposited Rs 2.5 crore into Asokan’s bank account. We are making efforts to bring the idols back to India,” says Rajendran

For the Idol Wing, Asokan has been the biggest catch in recent years. They say Asokan travelled across the state as an antique collector and identified centuries- old temples that were in dilapidated condition. Later, he hired criminal gangs known to him to steal the idols.

For Asokan, being a licensed handicrafts dealer was key. “He would pack up the stolen antique idols along with recently-made sculptures and ship them out of the country. He would declare all the articles as ‘recently made’ and obtain export clearances from the handicrafts department, giving him smooth passage through customs,” says inspector Kader Batcha, the investigating officer in the case. Batcha says Asokan shipped about 70 consignments in the last five years to the US and various European countries. “Half of them contained idols, though they were described as ‘of no antique value’. We are investigating if they were stolen ones,” he told TEHELKA.

The Tamil Nadu Police has recovered 535 Idols worth rupees 50 Crore

Since 1992, a Temple Protection Force has been functioning in the state with about 3,000 ex-service men and 1,000 police constables. They are deployed in about 2,632 temples. Police feel, however, that this security cover is inadequate. In June, ADGP G Thilakavathi, head of the Idol Wing, wrote to the commissioner, HR&CE, suggesting that security equipment be used intensively in temples. Citing the theft case at Marundheeswarar temple at Thiruthuraippondi, she noted, “The burglar alarm remained dysfunctional for more than six months. This temple has more than 250 antique idols and valuable jewels in their locker room.”

Asokan, a registered handicrafts dealer and antique collector, has been the biggest catch

The state has constructed ‘icon centres’ for storing antique idols found in remote village temples. The idols are taken from these centres to the temples during festivals. For the rest of the year, they remain at the centres, where daily poojas are performed for them. There are six centres now and Thilakavathi has proposed at least one centre for every district.

Significantly, in 2007, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) launched an ambitious five-year project called the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities, which aims to create a database of every antique in the country. The efforts of the ASI and the Idol Wing to safeguard the country’s antique treasure trove are bound to bring cheer to heritage lovers.

Source: Tehelka

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