TIRUCHY: A precious emerald lingam went missing from a Sivan temple at Jayankondam in Ariyalur on Thursday and the police are searching for the culprits by CCTV footage.

The Kasi Viswanathar with Kasi Vishalakshi temple is located at Elaiyur village near Jayankondam in Ariyalur controlled by the HR&CE department in which the emerald lingam is the presiding deity and several thousands of devotees used to converge during the Pradosham day and the days dedicated for the Lord Siva and Kaliyaperumal (81), the priest has been maintaining the temple for a long time.

On Wednesday evening, in view of Pradosham, a special puja was held for the lingam and Kaliyaperumal was sleeping the temple premises after closing the temple and keeping the keys beneath the pillow. When he woke up early hours of Thursday, he found the keys missing and the doors near the presiding deity were open.

The shocked Kaliyaperumal went inside the temple and found that the emerald lingam went missing. Soon, he passed on the information to the village people, who alerted the Jayankondam police and the HR&CE officials.

On information, the Ariyalur SP Vishwesh B Shastri and Jayankondam DESP Ravi Chakravarthy along with the HR&CE Executive Officer Sivaneya Selvan rushed to the temple and conducted an inquiry. The police also retrieved the CCTV footage from the nearby houses and establishments and commenced a hunt for the culprits.