55 antique idols seized from art collector's house in Chennai

Tamil Nadu Police's Idol Wing- CID (IWCID) seized 55 antique idols from the house of an art collector in Chennai, suspected to be stolen from temples across the country. The idols were seized from the house of Shobha Durairajan, an art collector from Raja Annamalaipuram. Police said that Shoba was under Police radar for a few months now. The woman allegedly told police that collecting antique idols was her hobby, and she had purchased the antique idols from idol smuggler, Deenadayalan of the Aparna Art Gallery between 2008 and 2015. The Idol Wing officers suspect the idols to be from from AD 9th century or 10th century and have sought help from the Archeological Survey of India to identify the stolen idols.