VANIYAMBADI: Four persons who attempted to steal a Ganesh idol from a small shrine at a village near Alangayam in Vaniyambadi taluk were caught and thrashed by the public and handed over to the police on Tuesday.

Teerthamalai near Alangayam had small shrines and locals were surprised when they found a car which came with four occupants, suddenly stop in front of the shrine of Lord Ganesh.

The occupants rushed to the shrine and removed the Ganesh idol from its pedestal and tried to escape with it in the vehicle. Locals raised the alarm following which a crowd collected and stopped the car. They pulled out the four persons – identified as Alumalai (30), Prakasam (50), Selvam (32) and Suresh (32) all residents of villages in Anaicut panchayat union in Vellore district and thrashed them before informing the Alangayam police, who apprehended the culprits, registered a case and remanded them to custody. The vehicle used for the theft was also seized.