CHENNAI: Notorious art dealer-cum-idol smuggler Subhash Chandra Kapoor’s US-based sister has stashed several idols stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu, with a combined worth of Rs 280 crore, alleged retired IPS officer and former head of Tamil Nadu police’s Idol Wing Pon Manickavel.
The 39 idols that Sushma Sherin, Kapoor’s New York-based sister has in her possession include an ancient idol stolen from Thiruvenkadar temple in Pappankulam, Tenkasi, estimated to be worth Rs 12 crore, he added.
Despite providing the evidence and necessary documentation to the Tamil Nadu government, no concrete action was initiated to recover these stolen artifacts, he added.
According to a Thanthi TV report, the former Idol Wing IG made these remarks while visiting the Kutralanathar temple in Kutralam, Tenkasi, where he had come to offer prayers.
Explaining how Sherin came in possession of the stolen idols, Manickavel said after Subhash Kapoor was arrested in Germany and brought to India, the idols from his New York gallery were taken by his sister. All these were stolen from various temples across Tamil Nadu, he claimed.