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TN police recover stolen idols, arrest three

THANJAVUR: Police arrested three people on Sunday after seizing two stolen metal idols of Durgai Amman and Hanuman from a house near Pattukotai in Thanjavur district.

The one-foot Amman idol and three-quarter-foot tall Hanuman idol, weighing 4kg and 2.5kg respectively, have been handed over to the revenue officials to find out the age and the metal used for their make.



Police identified the accused as R Saravanan, 36, K Pranmalai, 36, of Pukarambai village near Pattukottai, and A Raja, 34, of Kulithalai in Karur district. All the three have been remanded in judicial custody and sent to Kumbakonam prison.

Raja had stolen the two idols from a temple in Dindigul district sometimes ago. He tried to sell the idols in Trichy several times in vain. Raja was a labourer employed to cut trees that fell during cyclone Gaja in the area.

Using his contacts there he arrived at Pattukottai to sell the idols. He met Saravanan at Pukarambai and both planned to sell the idols. Through Saravanan, the duo approached Pranmalai and handed over the idols to him.

On a tip-off from a resident of Pukarambi village who came to know about their plan, a police team headed by P Thennarasu raided the house of Pranmalai and recovered the idols.

“The idols seem to be panchaloha. However, experts have to confirm it. Based on the interrogation, it came to light that Raja had stolen them from a temple in Dindigul. Further inquiries are on,” sub-inspector Thennarasu told TOI.

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