Two persons, who stole an antique idol of Lord Hanuman were arrested. (Representational)
Two persons, who stole an antique idol of Lord Hanuman from a temple in Patteeswaram in Kumbakonam, were arrested and the stone idol was recovered from them, the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID said on Saturday.
The idol went missing from the 1,000-year-old Sri Dhenupureeswarar temple, about three years ago. The case, initially registered by the local police, was transferred to the Idol Wing CID on October 5, 2020.
Much progress in the case was made after a special team formed under Additional DSP Balamurugan analysed the CCTV footage of the temple from October 2019 and narrowed down on few suspects.
On December 22, a person resembling one of the suspects was picked up from the Kumbakonam bye-pass and brought to the IW CID office for questioning.
The suspect, upon being questioned, confessed to the crime and revealed about the involvement of another person, who was later arrested. Both had planned to sell the idol for a hefty sum.
The 300-year-old antique idol of Lord Hanuman, believed to have been installed by the Nayak kings, was recovered from the house of the second accused in Vellore, a release said.
IW DGP K Jayanth Murali and IGP Dinakaran, announced cash rewards and Soulbound Tokens as digital medals for the team, which cracked the case.
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