Tamil Nadu : Police recovers stone idols of Hindu deities from Cauvery river

Trichy : The Thiruverumbur police recovered several stone idols of Hindu deities from Cauvery river near Othakudi on Saturday. Suspected to have been stolen from temples in the region, police say that smugglers could have abandoned them due to the recent crackdown on idol smugglers in Chennai.

A police team rushed to the spot at 11pm, Friday, after locals who were fishing in the river in the night alerted them. It took over three hours for 20 people to lift the seven stone idols from the river bed.

Biggest among them was a four feet tall idol of goddess Amman, a 2.5 feet tall idol of Ambal leaning on to Swamy, two Nandi statues each around 2 feet tall, a statue of Manmadan, a damaged Shiva linga apart from a small Amman statue.

Police sources said that the idols were recently stolen from temples. “The accumulation of a layer of oil on the idols hint at the possible worshipping in temples as deities as oil is applied on the stone idols,” an investigating officer said. Police have sought the help of archaeologists to ascertain the age of the statues.

A case has been registered in the Thiruverumbur police station in this regard.

Police inspector Madan said hat the perpetrator must have stolen the idols from temples to smuggle them to other cities. “However, learning about the police crackdown on idol smugglers, they could have abandoned them to escape action. We are investigation in a broader perspective and are trying to identify the temples from where the idols were stolen,” he told TOI.

Source : TOI