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Probe in idol theft hits dead end?
After a slew of successes, the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police seems to have hit a rough patch – allegedly after the investigators began probing ‘insiders’ for looting the temples
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
For several years, Subhash Kapoor, the infamous temple raider whose “collection” of ancient idols and other artefacts from Tamil Nadu are found at galleries across the world even now, was considered to be the biggest fish in the international smuggling network – at least for the Idol Wing investigators here. But they were in for a shock when some leads directed the probes not to outsiders but the ones within. That is when it all changed.
It was in July last year that Madras High Court directed a team, with Inspector General A G Pon Manickavel as the special officer heading it, to investigate over 530 idol theft cases in the state. The new team was going strong till the other day – till they started probing the case of the panchaloha idol of Lord Murugan at Palani Dandayudhapani temple, weighing over 220 kg, that was made in 2004.
During the probe, the investigators arrested state’s chief sculptor M Muthiah, a 76-year-old Padma Shri winner. Among those arrested along with him was KK Raja, the then executive officer of the temple and a relative of a minister. Idol Wing charged the two of causing a loss of nearly Rs 1.31 crore in 2004. They believe the new idol was made to replace the antique idol from the temple. the original would then be smuggled out of the country and sold to international smugglers. The idol was not kept in sanctum sanctorum of the Palani temple, but kept in another room. It was supposed to replace the old navapashanam idol, but that never happened.
Within a week of the arrest, however, the case was transferred to the CBCID, which takes its own time to investigate any case entrusted on it.
According to the sleuths, most of the cash swindling and other frauds in the temples were interlinked, where the finger of suspicion pointed towards the administration itself. This is a network that allegedly involves officials, politicians and even businessmen. “Businessmen and politicians appear in the guise of bringing in new schemes and facilities to the temple. But most of the time, their real motive will be to exploit the situation,” said a source.
Meanwhile, HR&CE Commissioner R Jaya refused to comment on the matter, stating that she could not react to allegations of anonymous and unknown persons.
Skeletons have tumbled out of the cupboard whenever the idol wing dug deep. In 2016, the officers unearthed a murder by suspects involved in an idol theft case reported in 2005. The sleuths had even arrested their own former colleagues DSP Kadhar Batcha and special sub inspector N Subburaj, for robbing idols in Madurai at gunpoint in 2008.
Temple cases keep Idol Wing busy
Is the Idol Wing CID of the TN police, which claimed credit for the seizure of $400 million worth artefacts in the US not so long ago, facing a tough time in protecting the wealth of local temples?
Sleuths of the wing, which is investigating more than 530 idol cases registered across the state, have been charging the officials of the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department for not making efforts to protect the wealth of the temples.
Now, the relationship between the Idol Wing and HR&CE officials has strained more after the investigators started naming the officials as suspects in the FIRs — like in the case of the panchaloha idol of Palani Dandayudhapani temple that led to the arrest of the chief sculptor of the state Muthiah and the then executive officer of the temple K K Raja. Sources said investigations into the management of the temples revealed that most of the misappropriation of cash and other frauds were linked and the needle of suspicion pointed towards the temple administration.
Idols worth Rs 80 crore retrieved
- Ever since international idol smuggler Subhash Kapoor was arrested from Frankfurt in 2011 based on an Interpol alert issued following a request by Tamil Nadu police, the state has managed to retrieve several idols from countries abroad, estimated to be worth more than Rs 80 crore.
- Incidentally, the state police’s Economic Offences Wing had already claimed that its input had helped the US Homeland Security investigators to seize over 400 artefacts of India origin, valued over US $ 400 million from the Art of the Past gallery in Manhattan, New York, once run by Kapoor who is now lodged in Puzhal jail.
- Subhash Kapoor’s gallery in the US housed as many as 462 artefacts stolen from various states in India, including 31 idols from Tamil Nadu. The state sleuths say that they are in the process of retrieving idols worth Rs 300 crore from the custody of US agencies.
HC steps in
- It was in July last year that Madras High Court directed a team, with Inspector General AG Pon Manickavel as the special officer heading it, to investigate over 530 idol theft cases in the state.
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